So I was talking up a new employee at the FLGS, asked him what he played. He listed it off and said 40k. Now 40k players as employees are a rarity so I chat him up. Immediatly after asking him what he played he said "Dark Eldar, I just with this game wasnt so expensive" Then went into a tirade about how the new space marine codex sucks because it has more content then the others, how the starting books are expensive and how the models are crap and how superior flames of war is...then tells me that flames of war now has to share with pathfinder night, despite flames of war not selling at all?
Then came the time my friend scratched the FLGS owners car and I got blamed for it.
We had the MTG guys come in unannounced for a tournament, the day we had booked out the MTG area for a 40K tournament, booked over 2 months in advance.
because MTG "magically" gets more sales (despite 3/4 of them getting their cards off the net) the TO got shafted, no refund on the bond he had to pay (350 bucks) and we ended up having no tournament that quarter, meaning the TO was out another 400 bucks for the prize money.
We now run our tournament days at the Italian club, which means we get food, drink AND a bathroom and the LGS doesn't get our business.
A store near me in the charming town of Skegness called warlords gives out terrible advice to shift stock, and out right lies.
I had a friend who was looking for a copy of the open fire flames of war set, when he went to warlords they tried to sell him the old set with the out dated rulebook insisting it was the latest version.
Not to mention your pretty much ignored if not a regular till you approach the till with something in your hand. They also never seem to open on time, and when they don't open till midday you wouldn't think that would be to hard. Very annoying when you have gone out your way living in a rural area to visit.
Yeah so bad sales advice, bad and unfriendly customer service and random opening makes it a pretty bad store in my mind.
Doctadeth wrote: We had the MTG guys come in unannounced for a tournament, the day we had booked out the MTG area for a 40K tournament, booked over 2 months in advance.
because MTG "magically" gets more sales (despite 3/4 of them getting their cards off the net) the TO got shafted, no refund on the bond he had to pay (350 bucks) and we ended up having no tournament that quarter, meaning the TO was out another 400 bucks for the prize money.
We now run our tournament days at the Italian club, which means we get food, drink AND a bathroom and the LGS doesn't get our business.
This started over a year or so ago. We were have a store vs. store friendly games tourney. Our best against their best. We show up at the scheduled time on a Friday night. We all head downstairs and start looking at the boards on which we will wage war upon each others armies. On a 4x6 board you should have about 25% terrain. They were all covered ... like 80% to 90% of terrain. 7 boards like this, honestly, I was just floored.
The owner's wife came in and freaked out, like really freaked out bad, telling her hubby that "This is not going to work, this is not going to work at all, you have to do something different." As well as various other things that I can not post here. She thought she was being quiet but, my hearing is quite good, and this poor guy was getting mentally brow beat so bad that it should have been illegal, and I heard it all. She kept telling him that it was MTG night and that we (the 40k players) could not be in the basement, not tonight, not on MTG night.
I was kinda pissy about that as it was the owner who suggested this little tourney and I was thinking that she was all into MTG and that we were 'ruining' her night. I brushed it off and played three games and bolted after I got my Furioso Dread (2nd place $50 product support) without saying anything to her.
Months later my buddy and I had to go to that same hobby shop to get parts for his RC car. There she is ... running the store. I think to myself "Great ... PSYCHO in the HOUSE!"
My buddy gets his bearings for the car and at the register she asks my buddy if he does Magic. I can see the wheels turning in his head and we discussed it afterwards and I was spot on. He has never heard of MTG, let alone played it and to top it off there are booster packs right in front of him that he does not even bother to look at. He starts off thinking ' Is she serious? Is she having a go at me? She is serious. WTF?!?"
His reply was one of the greatest I have ever been witness to in my life.
"I have no magical ability what-so-ever."
I start rolling. I mean he told her that in a completely serious tone and meant every word of it. I explained what she meant by the cards and that, and told her that we do not 'Do Magic' at all. She goes into a tirade about how they 'smell up' the store on Friday nights and she has 4 of those Glade automatic fresheners cranked up to max so that she can bear it. It was then that I figured out that it was not the 40k players that were ruining her night during the tourney, but that the MTG guys were going to be upstairs and she could not tolerate the reek that the crowd of these kids brought with them.
OIIIIIIO wrote: This started over a year or so ago. We were have a store vs. store friendly games tourney. Our best against their best. We show up at the scheduled time on a Friday night. We all head downstairs and start looking at the boards on which we will wage war upon each others armies. On a 4x6 board you should have about 25% terrain. They were all covered ... like 80% to 90% of terrain. 7 boards like this, honestly, I was just floored.
The owner's wife came in and freaked out, like really freaked out bad, telling her hubby that "This is not going to work, this is not going to work at all, you have to do something different." As well as various other things that I can not post here. She thought she was being quiet but, my hearing is quite good, and this poor guy was getting mentally brow beat so bad that it should have been illegal, and I heard it all. She kept telling him that it was MTG night and that we (the 40k players) could not be in the basement, not tonight, not on MTG night.
I was kinda pissy about that as it was the owner who suggested this little tourney and I was thinking that she was all into MTG and that we were 'ruining' her night. I brushed it off and played three games and bolted after I got my Furioso Dread (2nd place $50 product support) without saying anything to her.
Months later my buddy and I had to go to that same hobby shop to get parts for his RC car. There she is ... running the store. I think to myself "Great ... PSYCHO in the HOUSE!"
My buddy gets his bearings for the car and at the register she asks my buddy if he does Magic. I can see the wheels turning in his head and we discussed it afterwards and I was spot on. He has never heard of MTG, let alone played it and to top it off there are booster packs right in front of him that he does not even bother to look at. He starts off thinking ' Is she serious? Is she having a go at me? She is serious. WTF?!?"
His reply was one of the greatest I have ever been witness to in my life.
"I have no magical ability what-so-ever."
I start rolling. I mean he told her that in a completely serious tone and meant every word of it. I explained what she meant by the cards and that, and told her that we do not 'Do Magic' at all. She goes into a tirade about how they 'smell up' the store on Friday nights and she has 4 of those Glade automatic fresheners cranked up to max so that she can bear it. It was then that I figured out that it was not the 40k players that were ruining her night during the tourney, but that the MTG guys were going to be upstairs and she could not tolerate the reek that the crowd of these kids brought with them.
An NZ small claims court would be pretty useless in that situation mate...
Shame. I can't get over the cheek of the owner though. It was his fault they couldn't play, so it's his duty to refund their cash imfo.
Sorry, I wasn't clear. He's Australian. That's why an NZ small claims court would be useless. An Australian one may well be useful if we we have one, I have no idea
No real bad store stories really, I'm blessed by great stores whereever I have been, miss the old hk one, shout out to sonny if he is on here, bloody great store
In the town where I used to live (I won't name names) the LFGS owner got mad at the hardcore 40k players because they were having "side" tournaments at their houses. Mind you, the store only had a tournament about once every three months. In response to these tournaments he banned all of them. The store closed 6 months later...
I haven't got any really good stories but I do recall having people in a GW make fun of a friend and I for playing LOTR. Looking back though I don't blame them since we did take up a table with it (there were only 2 tables in the store) and honestly we thought it was pretty funny.
I'm lucky I suppose, my stores are all okay. Not great, though.
One time I walked in to a shop that I drove an hour to get to, and they let me in even though I arrived early, which was cool.
Then the store opened its doors and these people who I thought were regulars walked in and went behind the counter and started hanging out (close friends in all likelihood). Even though my girlfriend and I were in, they started discussing the latest outrages of various games and the threads on their forum very loudly, and they weren't curbing their vulgarities despite us being able to hear every word.
I don't really care, I'm a young guy and talk a lot of gak myself when putzing around with friends, but that's bad for business because someone like my girlfriend didn't like it at all. I assume that kind of behavior is commonplace from the management, it has to be having some kind of effect on attendance.
timetowaste85 wrote:This one time? At GW? A girl stuck a battle fleet gothic battle barge in...never mind, it's not important.
Speak, and tell what thou is hiding
Experiment 626 wrote:My old GW store tried to kill me... multiple times.
And that's not counting what working in a mall that's under major renovations will do to you...
What happened? Please do tell
As it is, there used to be a store in Preston, called Worthy Games. Now, this was a great store. However, the owner had, as it turned out, no actual interest in it, in fact he disliked it, and only used it to fuel his painting commission company (that was bleeding money like a slit artery). Any way, things where fine for the first few months. Until after Yule. Then the signs started. Little things, like orders not being fulfilled, and shelves being left un-stocked.
Anyway, that summer, 11 months after it had opened there was a massive sale, and the store closed. I was there on the last day, up to the final closing. I remember buying hundreds of pounds worth of stuff for around £20-£30 (90% reductions in some cases ).
But the real kicker was this: the store owed Red Steel, the club, money. Allot of money. And did he pay up? No. Instead, he pointed to some terrain that one of the floor staff had painted for us in good faith, and said that the job was equal to the value. It wasnt, not by a long chalk. Whats more, some of the terrain packs promised to the club where sold back to the suppliers. And there was nothing we could do about it.
And that's not counting what working in a mall that's under major renovations will do to you...
I've read what's being referenced here before, but please repost them for the benefit of others, as they are absolute gold.
Pretty please?
Well, since it's the holidays and we've all been good little gamers... (except for High Elf players - you guys are on the DoC's naughty list!)
As the story goes, "this one time, when I worked at the local GW store..."
- T'was the week before Christmas, and all along the lakeshore, a blizzard was raging, but the mall wasn't deterred! We stayed open, despite white-outs and mass traffic chaos and no plows came to our rescue... (okay, enough with the bad not-rhyming!)
So to celebrate the near state of emergency, (as there was just so much going on you could've shot a cannon off and no one would've cared), the construction crews decided to cut our internet lines, meaning no debit or credit card transactions could be processed, AND being the last weekend before Xmas our HQ was all off on their own holidays.
For the busiest 11 days of the year, we could only accept cash! Suffice to say, our sales sucked, and when our internet provider was able to finally get a crew together to fix things, they required a football field's length of wire to re-connect us to the central box! We did get a huge laugh though when we were finally able to print a Z-Report, (basically a listing of the day's sales numbers & weather or not you goof'ed up and either stole/gave away money), our Over/Under numbers: -$5,800 or thereabouts! HQ nearly had a heart attack, until we reminded them we hadn't been able to print a report for 11 days because we had no internet...
Oh, and those same construction crews figured since once was really fun, why not cut our internet lines again 3 short weeks later! The third time they did it, we AND the Cogeco repair crew were frothing at the mouth, ready to kill these dumb watch the language please. Reds8n .
- There was the idiot construction worker who though he'd be conscientious of keeping a safe & clean workspace around his welding station... so to catch any sparks he laid down a plastic tarp... then lit his acetylene torch and walked away, because nothing bad could possibly happen when an open flame is left unattended & hanging precariously over very flammable materials. Luckily the Fire Department's main firehouse is only half a black away.
Oh, and if you're the mall admin and think you can open your mall up for shopping again, before the fire department is done fumigating with their really cool large fans & checking the air quality to make sure it's NOT still toxic, well erm, don't be surprised when the chief flips his gak!
- Then there was the day the winds were coming right off Lake Ontario and gusting up to 90-100km/hour.
This was of course during the building of the back edition to the structure itself, meaning those winds were howling right into a confined open space and the only thing keeping them from blowing right into the mall itself were the plywood hordings acting as the 'pretend wall'...
Things would have been fine, if the moron construction crews had properly bolted both the bottom AND the top of those hordings to the floor/ceiling! So the end result, eventually a gust caused a section of boards to come crashing down onto a mother pushing a baby stroller with her kid inside. (luckily the mother got the worst of it, being some cuts/bruises)
This wasn't the only time they made this mistake either! When the back expansion was being built further down at our end of the mall, we had a day where our manager & other full timer plus one of the women from our neighbouring Carleton Cards store were physically holding up a section of hording. Meanwhile the assistant manager from Carleton went into the work area to inform the dumb construction crews their hording was about to get blown out (again) only to be screamed at for being in a work area without the proper footwear... (yep, they were clued in enough to notice high heels right away, but oblivious to the wild & very loud banging of plywood boards that are about to break free from it's fastenings and blow out into the mall itself.)
- We were getting a new escalator to go right in front of our store. Cool, more traffic & exposure! The catches...
First getting told less than a hour before closing we'd need to find ourselves an overnight 'fire watch' in case things went wrong with the welding work to get the upper level ready for the escalator... (yes, this was after the first fire.)
The digging of a giant pit in the floor to house all the wires & foundation for the escalator, which of course was left open for about 2 months and smelled like a cross between a rancid urinal fermented in mustard gas. Which of course wafted right into our store. (but it did look like a really cool mini gladiatorial death area, what with the bent & twisted metal refuse that had been tossed in there!)
Then Mall admin screws up and orders the wrong size of stairs, so now the work crews need to hand grind stainless steel during operating hours because they're running 3 weeks behind on the project! Note: breathing that crap in will result in your nose bleeding, (sometimes profusely!), every single time you need to blow your nose. (and also it will continue to bleed the morning next morning as soon as you need to blow.)
Finally the finished escalator was built in such a way that our storefront ends up almost entirely obscured from sight, unless you walk down our side of the hallway. (so much for increased foot traffic...)
- New receiving bays we being built behind our store. We seemed not to care about this one, until it came time to lay down to highly toxic chemical sealant on the concrete floor to protect it from weather & heavy trucks...
The crews had decided to vent the new bay by opening up the bay doors to the outside. This was fine and dandy, until the dumb guy on the crew decided to open the back door to the service hallway and thus create a vacuum effect that then sucked all those really awful-for-you fumes strait into the back of our store... (*cough*)
And no, mall admin wouldn't let us close, because they claimed the problem was being "addressed" and that within an hour or so the air quality should improve...
- One of the final new stores to get reno'ed was (surprise, surprise) well behind schedule, so the mall admin told the contractors to hurry the hell up and do whatever was required to ensure the new store would be ready to open on time.
Only problem with this, the previous store had a carpeted floor. The new store (some tween/punker style clothing store) going in was going to have a wood paneled floor. To get the floor ready for the new surface required the crews to dissolve all the old carpet glue, which means you need some really nasty chemicals that are capable of rendering anyone who inhales them unconscious within minutes!
Normally, they should have done this work at like 1am in order to keep everyone safe and sound and get the air cleared properly. Because they were so far behind on the work, well they used this crap at about 6am and hadn't quite set up their fans properly, meaning a portion of the highly toxic fumes overcame a couple of the mall cleaning staff in the service hallway...
Cue yet another evacuation on account of sheer incompetence & stupidity...
On the plus side, it was a basically a free day off and we got to see the police mobile command post being set-up, plus the fire department pulled out all their cool hazmat gear because these chemicals are really that nasty when used improperly!
- Druken old people on mobile scooters provide entertainment! Because they think they can ride their scooter down the escalator, then crash spectacularly, and finally try to beat the crap out of the paramedics who show-up to try and stop their rather profuse bleeding from multiple lacerations!
Okay, so that's basically the main construction foibles. (and drunken old guy)
Mother Nature & the resident restaurant then took their turns, but that's another story entirely...
Nathan, the store manager of GW NZ is an evil salesmen. Manipulates kids into buying product they dont actually want, tells you what you want despite telling him what you want. And if you are young and have non gamer parents well be prepared to end up with useless models you dont need. Took me an hour to buy a codex, and 3 boxes of eldar simply because what i wanted was wrong. I feel very sorry for the kids who have no where else (as the other wargames store was driven from buisness) to go and are stuck with this man as their GW supplier.
Oh man, there's a store in Orlando, FL. It's quite a large store and apparently it's opened up franchises in Nashville and a couple other places. But let me tell you, they treat their customers like total crap. The various employees routinely ban customers without ever explaining why, and apparently without consulting management at all.
When I was still going there on the regular, Pokemon cards were their biggest cash cow (I suspect this has changed to Magic, of course). As a result, Pokemon players had the final say in all things. Of course, the average Pokemon player was an 8 year old. Customers were being ejected left right and center for idiotic things, like when a kid's conservative mom decided that she didn't like a guy's tattoos and he was ejected in the middle of a 40k game. This also led to a bunch of incredibly vulgar, vile little toadish third graders being allowed to stand around hurling insults and, I kid you not, suggesting genocide. This one kid always got the others whipped up into a frenzy over how all the Japanese should be killed.
Don't worry, I have no idea either.
Now, here's something interesting that not a lot of the store's customers apparently know (or knew, whichever). They sold porn there. Live action and Hentai. This store is so...odd. There are a couple areas that like nobody actually goes to, not because they're roped off or anything but because they're just off to the far end of the store, which itself is the size of a supermarket. You'd find some weird stuff, like porn on display and hentai comics opened up to the pages with the tentacle rape scenes, all the fun stuff. And, children being poorly supervised and naturally inclined to explore, would sometimes wind up in the sections where porn was housed. I'll let you soak that in for a minute. The porn section of the store was such an oddity. Combine this with the awkwardness of the average geek (this was before geek became chic) and the (completely surprising) number of very attractive girls who worked the register, and you occasionally had the hilarious spectacle of a stuttering ultranerd buying porn from a really cute girl, and all the awkward antics that go with it.
There were a lot of those scenes.
I was once playing in a 40k tournament, Ard Boyz 2010 I believe, after not having visited the store for ages. I'm in the middle of the second round and one of the employees pulls me aside and tells me that I'm banned from the store. When I ask (read: demanded) that he explain, he said he didn't know why I was banned, only that someone said they thought they remembered a guy who no longer worked there saying that I was banned years before. I managed to convince them that they were, in fact, slowed, and finished out the tournament. I haven't been back to the store since, and to be honest I have no idea if I'm banned or not. I just don't care enough to go back there unless there's a particularly big tournament to draw me in.
Oh man, there's a store in Orlando, FL. It's quite a large store and apparently it's opened up franchises in Nashville and a couple other places. But let me tell you, they treat their customers like total crap. The various employees routinely ban customers without ever explaining why, and apparently without consulting management at all.
When I was still going there on the regular, Pokemon cards were their biggest cash cow (I suspect this has changed to Magic, of course). As a result, Pokemon players had the final say in all things. Of course, the average Pokemon player was an 8 year old. Customers were being ejected left right and center for idiotic things, like when a kid's conservative mom decided that she didn't like a guy's tattoos and he was ejected in the middle of a 40k game. This also led to a bunch of incredibly vulgar, vile little toadish third graders being allowed to stand around hurling insults and, I kid you not, suggesting genocide. This one kid always got the others whipped up into a frenzy over how all the Japanese should be killed.
Don't worry, I have no idea either.
Now, here's something interesting that not a lot of the store's customers apparently know (or knew, whichever). They sold porn there. Live action and Hentai. This store is so...odd. There are a couple areas that like nobody actually goes to, not because they're roped off or anything but because they're just off to the far end of the store, which itself is the size of a supermarket. You'd find some weird stuff, like porn on display and hentai comics opened up to the pages with the tentacle rape scenes, all the fun stuff. And, children being poorly supervised and naturally inclined to explore, would sometimes wind up in the sections where porn was housed. I'll let you soak that in for a minute. The porn section of the store was such an oddity. Combine this with the awkwardness of the average geek (this was before geek became chic) and the (completely surprising) number of very attractive girls who worked the register, and you occasionally had the hilarious spectacle of a stuttering ultranerd buying porn from a really cute girl, and all the awkward antics that go with it.
There were a lot of those scenes.
I was once playing in a 40k tournament, Ard Boyz 2010 I believe, after not having visited the store for ages. I'm in the middle of the second round and one of the employees pulls me aside and tells me that I'm banned from the store. When I ask (read: demanded) that he explain, he said he didn't know why I was banned, only that someone said they thought they remembered a guy who no longer worked there saying that I was banned years before. I managed to convince them that they were, in fact, slowed, and finished out the tournament. I haven't been back to the store since, and to be honest I have no idea if I'm banned or not. I just don't care enough to go back there unless there's a particularly big tournament to draw me in.
It sounds like they are trying to create a physical manifestation of the internet.
- Druken old people on mobile scooters provide entertainment! Because they think they can ride their scooter down the escalator, then crash spectacularly, and finally try to beat the crap out of the paramedics who show-up to try and stop their rather profuse bleeding from multiple lacerations!
Best part of the entire thing, though the whole story is great.
My gaming store is really good, except for those awkward moments when you walk in and a bunch of old guys playing X-Wing turn around and stare at you.
My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
MRPYM wrote: My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
Nathan of gw Wellington also did this to people.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
MRPYM wrote: My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
wowsmash wrote: My favorite is still the kid that drank the enchanted blue paint. Anyone have it saved? Best story ever.
Briefly the story is that some kid got so angry he took an enchanted blue(old citadel) paint pot and drank it.
He later barfed a lot.
There was also the one about the kid who was being a little dillhole playing around with the bottle of super glue and glued his face to the painting table...
Shortly afterwards, GW started bottling the super glue into pill bottles.
Our store also had the kid who was playing around with his pocket knife in front of the area manager, who told the kid to put the knife away because he was being an idiot with it. The kid told off the area manager and boasted about how there was no way he could ever hurt himself with his own knife... (yes, it ended in Little Timmy's blood, because Little Timmy was being dumb)
Next day, new rule comes out that no one under 18 is allowed to be using any kind of knife in any GW store.
And yes, I'll get to the real disasters in a bit...
I don't go into my local game stores that often (play with a small group that meets at people's houses) so I guess I've been spared the worst of it.
Just the usual really annoying people bragging about how awesome their army is and how it could totally take your army down easily. I'm not going to lie, after about thr 5th time...I really don't care how many points your two flying hive tyrants or three riptides killed last game. (2 different people, who hang out with each other a lot interestingly enough)
bossfearless wrote: Oh man, there's a store in Orlando, FL. It's quite a large store and apparently it's opened up franchises in Nashville and a couple other places...
Fortunately the franchise here in Cincinnati is nothing like the main store you've described.
Well, I had some clashes with stores before. But they were more or less justified because I used to be a "lurker", meaning i just observed games and hung out with the people. These days I hang at my Club and im currently painting an army, so that rarely happens anymore. I do remember some nice ones from my "lurking" tough:
- I regularly visit a mate of mine in the UK, he owns a handful fo armies for both 40k and Fantasy and went to a local store for years. Everytime I was over there I would watch him play, talk to the guys and generally have a good time. The Store was very friendly, hosted regular Events and was just generally great. However, all this changed when the MTG-Crowd attacked...
Appearantly, while the store sold cards, there were rarely people playing MTG on the tables. I remember 2 or 3 regularls who played a friendly game here and there, nothing big. However, after another Tabletopstore in the area closed, a lot of MTG people suddenly came over to "our" store. This eventually meant that some tables that were previously used for Wargaming had to be repalced by regular one for the MTG people. At first, this wasnt a big deal. a 50-50 split-up wasnt too bad and the Warhammer guys were a friendly bunch. Sooner or alter however, the atmosphere started to change. I left again for home, and came back a few months later. Buddy was going to another shop he knew, much farther away than the original one. Naturally I asked why, so he showed me.
I didnt recognize a thing in that building. The section for wargaming was reduced to one table and one shelf in the far off corner of the store. Everything else was literally "Magic!". There were a whole bunch of people playing MTG, I saw Chalkboards with upcoming Events. A quick glance at the calendar showed that for one wargaming related Event, there were around 20 for MTG. Naturally I assumed the store just changed according to demand, maybe the interest for wargaming had decreased and just went with the flow. Buddy was quick to update me tough:
Soon after I left the MTG Players would complain about the Wargamers hogging up space. While a MTG Duel takes 5-20 minutes, a typical Warhammer-Battle can last multiple hours. This was "unfair" as they were profiting more of the space the store provided. Complaints turned into arguments, arguments into confrontations and the storeowner, while being a very nice guy, was completely unable to stand up to about anyone. So the terrain started to vanish, the calendar started to change. Some of the longtime customers attempted to cling to the shop and use what little space they had. But at this point, the relationsship between the two systems was very hostile. According to Buddy, some of the younger Players eventually started to outright harass people that were playing, and unsurprisingly, eventually people just dodged to another shop. The whole thing was pretty sad, i've never seen two fanbases that usually get along just fine in Clubs and local stores to outright bully each other out of the area.
- I knew a story not too far off my place, where the Owner would hit on every Woman that entered, regardless of age and relationshipstatus. It was horrible, not only because he went at it about as badly as you can ("Hey Baby, did it hurt when you fell down from heaven?" That sound you just heared was your brain trying to eat itself in embarassment.) but he was not very subtle about it too. Usually, most women would enter the store exactly once, hear ONE of his "Genius pickup lines" and then understandably flee over the hills. It pissed me off, since seeing a few women in the hobby was actually very refreshing, and made me feel less like a basement dwelling Gollum-knockoff.
I mostly kept away from that store, lest I get associated with that guy, and eventually the store vanished. I dunno if he moved or closed. I was very dissapointed, since its hard enough to find people and stores for Warhammer down here, so why did it have to be that guy of all people to open up a store?
Last time I was in the store we had about 8 guys around the table watching a 2v2 match all the model's and terrain were painted to a high degree. The 4 by 6 table was supported by a 2 by 6 table. One of the guys trips over a chair and starts to go down and reaches for the table. The table starts to come up and 8 pairs of hands slam down on the table to keep it in place. All of us are holding the table in place while we watch him eat it. I was across the table so there wasn't much I could do but I still felt like a douche for saving the table and not him. Felt like slow motion as he was going down. He had the weirdest look on his face to.
wowsmash wrote: Last time I was in the store we had about 8 guys around the table watching a 2v2 match all the model's and terrain were painted to a high degree. The 4 by 6 table was supported by a 2 by 6 table. One of the guys trips over a chair and starts to go down and reaches for the table. The table starts to come up and 8 pairs of hands slam down on the table to keep it in place. All of us are holding the table in place while we watch him eat it. I was across the table so there wasn't much I could do but I still felt like a douche for saving the table and not him. Felt like slow motion as he was going down. He had the weirdest look on his face to.
Important minis: 1, unimportant spaz: 0
Gamers-sweat the small stuff.
And to all the posters asking to hear more of my story....shoulda been there.
wowsmash wrote: Last time I was in the store we had about 8 guys around the table watching a 2v2 match all the model's and terrain were painted to a high degree. The 4 by 6 table was supported by a 2 by 6 table. One of the guys trips over a chair and starts to go down and reaches for the table. The table starts to come up and 8 pairs of hands slam down on the table to keep it in place. All of us are holding the table in place while we watch him eat it. I was across the table so there wasn't much I could do but I still felt like a douche for saving the table and not him. Felt like slow motion as he was going down. He had the weirdest look on his face to.
Stuebi wrote: Well, I had some clashes with stores before. But they were more or less justified because I used to be a "lurker", meaning i just observed games and hung out with the people. These days I hang at my Club and im currently painting an army, so that rarely happens anymore. I do remember some nice ones from my "lurking" tough:
- I regularly visit a mate of mine in the UK, he owns a handful fo armies for both 40k and Fantasy and went to a local store for years. Everytime I was over there I would watch him play, talk to the guys and generally have a good time. The Store was very friendly, hosted regular Events and was just generally great. However, all this changed when the MTG-Crowd attacked...
Appearantly, while the store sold cards, there were rarely people playing MTG on the tables. I remember 2 or 3 regularls who played a friendly game here and there, nothing big. However, after another Tabletopstore in the area closed, a lot of MTG people suddenly came over to "our" store. This eventually meant that some tables that were previously used for Wargaming had to be repalced by regular one for the MTG people. At first, this wasnt a big deal. a 50-50 split-up wasnt too bad and the Warhammer guys were a friendly bunch. Sooner or alter however, the atmosphere started to change. I left again for home, and came back a few months later. Buddy was going to another shop he knew, much farther away than the original one. Naturally I asked why, so he showed me.
I didnt recognize a thing in that building. The section for wargaming was reduced to one table and one shelf in the far off corner of the store. Everything else was literally "Magic!". There were a whole bunch of people playing MTG, I saw Chalkboards with upcoming Events. A quick glance at the calendar showed that for one wargaming related Event, there were around 20 for MTG. Naturally I assumed the store just changed according to demand, maybe the interest for wargaming had decreased and just went with the flow. Buddy was quick to update me tough:
Soon after I left the MTG Players would complain about the Wargamers hogging up space. While a MTG Duel takes 5-20 minutes, a typical Warhammer-Battle can last multiple hours. This was "unfair" as they were profiting more of the space the store provided. Complaints turned into arguments, arguments into confrontations and the storeowner, while being a very nice guy, was completely unable to stand up to about anyone. So the terrain started to vanish, the calendar started to change. Some of the longtime customers attempted to cling to the shop and use what little space they had. But at this point, the relationsship between the two systems was very hostile. According to Buddy, some of the younger Players eventually started to outright harass people that were playing, and unsurprisingly, eventually people just dodged to another shop. The whole thing was pretty sad, i've never seen two fanbases that usually get along just fine in Clubs and local stores to outright bully each other out of the area.
- I knew a story not too far off my place, where the Owner would hit on every Woman that entered, regardless of age and relationshipstatus. It was horrible, not only because he went at it about as badly as you can ("Hey Baby, did it hurt when you fell down from heaven?" That sound you just heared was your brain trying to eat itself in embarassment.) but he was not very subtle about it too. Usually, most women would enter the store exactly once, hear ONE of his "Genius pickup lines" and then understandably flee over the hills. It pissed me off, since seeing a few women in the hobby was actually very refreshing, and made me feel less like a basement dwelling Gollum-knockoff.
I mostly kept away from that store, lest I get associated with that guy, and eventually the store vanished. I dunno if he moved or closed. I was very dissapointed, since its hard enough to find people and stores for Warhammer down here, so why did it have to be that guy of all people to open up a store?
The store I go to has a "MTG night" and a "40k night" so the 2 groups don't come into contact much. But this sounds horrifying.
bossfearless wrote: Oh man, there's a store in Orlando, FL. It's quite a large store and apparently it's opened up franchises in Nashville and a couple other places. But let me tell you, they treat their customers like total crap. The various employees routinely ban customers without ever explaining why, and apparently without consulting management at all.
When I was still going there on the regular, Pokemon cards were their biggest cash cow (I suspect this has changed to Magic, of course). As a result, Pokemon players had the final say in all things. Of course, the average Pokemon player was an 8 year old. Customers were being ejected left right and center for idiotic things, like when a kid's conservative mom decided that she didn't like a guy's tattoos and he was ejected in the middle of a 40k game. This also led to a bunch of incredibly vulgar, vile little toadish third graders being allowed to stand around hurling insults and, I kid you not, suggesting genocide. This one kid always got the others whipped up into a frenzy over how all the Japanese should be killed.
Don't worry, I have no idea either.
Now, here's something interesting that not a lot of the store's customers apparently know (or knew, whichever). They sold porn there. Live action and Hentai. This store is so...odd. There are a couple areas that like nobody actually goes to, not because they're roped off or anything but because they're just off to the far end of the store, which itself is the size of a supermarket. You'd find some weird stuff, like porn on display and hentai comics opened up to the pages with the tentacle rape scenes, all the fun stuff. And, children being poorly supervised and naturally inclined to explore, would sometimes wind up in the sections where porn was housed. I'll let you soak that in for a minute. The porn section of the store was such an oddity. Combine this with the awkwardness of the average geek (this was before geek became chic) and the (completely surprising) number of very attractive girls who worked the register, and you occasionally had the hilarious spectacle of a stuttering ultranerd buying porn from a really cute girl, and all the awkward antics that go with it.
There were a lot of those scenes.
I was once playing in a 40k tournament, Ard Boyz 2010 I believe, after not having visited the store for ages. I'm in the middle of the second round and one of the employees pulls me aside and tells me that I'm banned from the store. When I ask (read: demanded) that he explain, he said he didn't know why I was banned, only that someone said they thought they remembered a guy who no longer worked there saying that I was banned years before. I managed to convince them that they were, in fact, slowed, and finished out the tournament. I haven't been back to the store since, and to be honest I have no idea if I'm banned or not. I just don't care enough to go back there unless there's a particularly big tournament to draw me in.
I know who you're talking about and the crowd and staff there have never been very friendly. They've moved to a slightly smaller but still enormous location just across the parking lot and I think that section is gone I think. On more than one occasion I'd show up for an open apoc game or small tourney and be told I couldn't play. I've called and asked them to hold something, only to show up and be told they sold it to someone else.
A pal has been going there about once a month for 40k Saturday tournaments and he is of the opinion it's much improved. We'll see.
wowsmash wrote: Last time I was in the store we had about 8 guys around the table watching a 2v2 match all the model's and terrain were painted to a high degree. The 4 by 6 table was supported by a 2 by 6 table. One of the guys trips over a chair and starts to go down and reaches for the table. The table starts to come up and 8 pairs of hands slam down on the table to keep it in place. All of us are holding the table in place while we watch him eat it. I was across the table so there wasn't much I could do but I still felt like a douche for saving the table and not him. Felt like slow motion as he was going down. He had the weirdest look on his face to.
Scattering 4 people's armies to the 4 corners of the shop would have been much worse.
Zygrot24 wrote: [
I know who you're talking about and the crowd and staff there have never been very friendly. They've moved to a slightly smaller but still enormous location just across the parking lot and I think that section is gone I think. On more than one occasion I'd show up for an open apoc game or small tourney and be told I couldn't play. I've called and asked them to hold something, only to show up and be told they sold it to someone else.
A pal has been going there about once a month for 40k Saturday tournaments and he is of the opinion it's much improved. We'll see.
This is the one that was at one time named after a starship, and is now a genre location?
One of the last times I was in there (several years ago..) they requested I keep my purse behind the counter, as apparently they thought I might smuggle out product in it or something.
wowsmash wrote: Last time I was in the store we had about 8 guys around the table watching a 2v2 match all the model's and terrain were painted to a high degree. The 4 by 6 table was supported by a 2 by 6 table. One of the guys trips over a chair and starts to go down and reaches for the table. The table starts to come up and 8 pairs of hands slam down on the table to keep it in place. All of us are holding the table in place while we watch him eat it. I was across the table so there wasn't much I could do but I still felt like a douche for saving the table and not him. Felt like slow motion as he was going down. He had the weirdest look on his face to.
Scattering 4 people's armies to the 4 corners of the shop would have been much worse.
I can tell you that if I were the fellow that was falling then I would have felt a whole lot worse about the broken models than I would be about a bruised knee or butt.
Stopping the collapse of the table was the right choice.
bossfearless wrote: Oh man, there's a store in Orlando, FL. It's quite a large store and apparently it's opened up franchises in Nashville and a couple other places. But let me tell you, they treat their customers like total crap. The various employees routinely ban customers without ever explaining why, and apparently without consulting management at all.
What store is that? I live near Nashville, and am familiar with most all the gaming shops up that way, but I dont think any are a "chain" of any type
As for my "bad store"
Well, when I was stationed at Fort Carson, there were basically 2 stores, and they were situated almost directly across from each other on Academy BLVD. The one store was sat next to a Taco Bell and IIRC and Arby's and was quite the excellent store. Multiple tables, decent enough terrain, good selection and there was no gamer funk. (this was aided by the fact that it was at one point an old tire shop or something as all the gaming tables were in what was obviously a garage).
the OTHER store was next to the billiards shop (that one was cool), and had no specialty. They had a gak ton of board games, just about every Reaper mini in production at the time, 2 tables total, and some "old lady" porcelain figures, though they were mostly fantasy figurines and whatnot. While that sounds all well and good here's where the problems lay: the single employee was apparently mute as in all the times I went there he didn't say a single word to me, and if he did it was at such a low volume and such a mumble that I couldnt hear it. This guy wore calf length mocassins to work (the kind you can get from a leather kit catalogue), and was channeling his inner Highlander with his unkempt hair. Then you had the owner. He was about 400 lbs. and had what I would call a bad attitude. One time I was in there, he was talking about hooking up his computer to his treadmill, so that he could play Diablo 2 and lose weight (or some ridiculous notion) but basically every time I went in there, he was sat at his computer, didn't move, didnt really offer to help anyone find anything, and if you did ask he'd point his meaty fist in some general direction, and act all pissed off that he "had" to help you. and the last thing was the smell. OHH MY GOD... it was like the place had never been aired out, and Im guessing that since there were usually only about 2 people in there, most of hte funk came from the owner and his mute minion. (Obi Wan would be saying "it's as though a million voices cried out in agony, and were suddenly silenced")
Not exactly a Bad Store experience as such, but it was somewhat amusing...
A couple years ago I went on holiday with my parents and younger brother , visiting a few cities on the USA's east coast - Washington, New York and Gettysburg (for the town and battlefield).
While in Gettysburg, I passed by a small model shop and went in out of curiosity. They didn't have much of interest to me. I have 40K Raven Guard, Lord of the Rings, and I'm starting a Dark Age Anglo Saxon army for SAGA (Gripping Beast models mostly).
The shop mostly had what looked like really, really old models - probably dating from before I was born - for ancient antiquity periods, American Civil War (naturally), WW2 etc. Nothing I particularly wanted, so I was just browsing out of curiosity. There was a large book area but it was naturally all ACW, a period that I'm not particularly interested in (and I'd just spent all day visiting the battlefield and getting a guided tour).
Then the owner asked if he could help, and my GOD, when I made eye contact, it took a lot of effort not to burst out laughing... He was one-eyed you see, with a big glass eye bulging out from his face and misaligned so he appeared cross eyed.
I politely declined and made some small talk, explained that I was from England visiting, and I was just curious but didn't find anything for the games I play. Shortly afterwards I made a beeline out of there.
I suppose the lesson is...if you're a one eyed store owner, get a glass eye that actually fits and doesn't make you look cross eyed and make eye contact awkward for your customers, or wear an eye patch.
bossfearless wrote: Oh man, there's a store in Orlando, FL. It's quite a large store and apparently it's opened up franchises in Nashville and a couple other places. But let me tell you, they treat their customers like total crap. The various employees routinely ban customers without ever explaining why, and apparently without consulting management at all.
What store is that? I live near Nashville, and am familiar with most all the gaming shops up that way, but I dont think any are a "chain" of any type
It's in Knoxville, not Nashville (and the other aforementioned locations in Orlando and Cincinnati).
A couple years ago I went on holiday with my parents and younger brother , visiting a few cities on the USA's east coast - Washington, New York and Gettysburg (for the town and battlefield).
While in Gettysburg, I passed by a small model shop and went in out of curiosity. They didn't have much of interest to me. I have 40K Raven Guard, Lord of the Rings, and I'm starting a Dark Age Anglo Saxon army for SAGA (Gripping Beast models mostly).
The shop mostly had what looked like really, really old models - probably dating from before I was born - for ancient antiquity periods, American Civil War (naturally), WW2 etc. Nothing I particularly wanted, so I was just browsing out of curiosity. There was a large book area but it was naturally all ACW, a period that I'm not particularly interested in (and I'd just spent all day visiting the battlefield and getting a guided tour).
Then the owner asked if he could help, and my GOD, when I made eye contact, it took a lot of effort not to burst out laughing... He was one-eyed you see, with a big glass eye bulging out from his face and misaligned so he appeared cross eyed.
I politely declined and made some small talk, explained that I was from England visiting, and I was just curious but didn't find anything for the games I play. Shortly afterwards I made a beeline out of there.
I suppose the lesson is...if you're a one eyed store owner, get a glass eye that actually fits and doesn't make you look cross eyed and make eye contact awkward for your customers, or wear an eye patch.
bossfearless wrote: Oh man, there's a store in Orlando, FL. It's quite a large store and apparently it's opened up franchises in Nashville and a couple other places. But let me tell you, they treat their customers like total crap. The various employees routinely ban customers without ever explaining why, and apparently without consulting management at all.
The name of the store wouldn't happen to be Sci-Fi City, would it? They have stores in Florida as well as Cincinnati. The Cincinnati store tries to start arguments with other LGSs from time to time, and there have been reports of them banning people who don't buy miniatures/MTG cards from them.
As for my own personal experiences, the LGS I used to go to had an employee who would regularly be a dick to people playing 40k on one of the designated 40k nights, and would regularly bring in about a dozen people to play D&D on those nights, which would take up two of our three tables. I stopped going to that store when he started harassing me for painting instead of playing (no other players were there), saying I was a "rich piece of gak".
There was a lad at my GW whom glued his face to the painting table....
He had dropped his paintbrush and failed to notice the spilt superglue puddle when he bent to retrieve it. The side of his face made contact with the table, he grabbed his brush, then tried to get back up.
Sadly for him, this was old GW superglue, not the crappy new stuff. His face was stuck fast. I cannot remember how they got him off, but the story became a legend for us in Preston.
And the moral of this, is too always look before you reach.
Then there was the time I became the manager temporarily......
Basically I won a bet with the store manager.
Both of us where Skaven players, and we where discussing some tactics for my slaves over some painting. I was thinking of giving them slings, for a kind of gunline force (I was young and this was many years ago).
Anyway, he says that slaves cannot have them and I insist they can.
So it comes down to the bet: He will consult a book from the shelf. If he is right, I am banned for a minute. If I am right, he will relinquish command too me, for the same length of time.
As it was, I was right, and he pinned the managers badge on too my shirt.
And, as I was only young, I spent the whole minute sitting there, feeling pleased and grinning (HEY!, I was only 10-12)
Ah, the good old days. Martin was a great manager. He will be sorely missed.
master of ordinance wrote: Basically I won a bet with the store manager.
Both of us where Skaven players, and we where discussing some tactics for my slaves over some painting. I was thinking of giving them slings, for a kind of gunline force (I was young and this was many years ago).
Anyway, he says that slaves cannot have them and I insist they can.
So it comes down to the bet: He will consult a book from the shelf. If he is right, I am banned for a minute. If I am right, he will relinquish command too me, for the same length of time.
As it was, I was right, and he pinned the managers badge on too my shirt.
And, as I was only young, I spent the whole minute sitting there, feeling pleased and grinning (HEY!, I was only 10-12)
Ah, the good old days. Martin was a great manager. He will be sorely missed.
You should put that on a resume (that you were the manager of a Multimillion dollar corporation's local store)
For some reason, I was just reminded of another shop I went to once while stationed in Germany. So I had looked online for just about any store I could potentially play at, and ended up checking one out in the downtown area of Mainz. Well, almost all of his 40k models were at least one edition behind (he had the old LR kit), he did have some newer stuff, but it was all the units that no one ever wanted. Plus, he had a huge stock of VERY obscure games, plus assortments of older DnD, etc. type games. Well, at the back wall (the shop wasn't big) was a shower curtain that was extended to attempt to hide his kitchen, and a very tiny staircase (it looked more like a hidden tunnel/passage than a proper stair) that went up to what I would only have to assume was his apartment. So yeah, the store smelled of old musty gamer books, and whatever he had cooked previously... but the name of the shop had Ork in it, so it kinda fit, I guess.
I've noticed in my local GWs that the youngsters can ONLY talk about the hobby. They interrupt conversations with the staff to point something out in a codex, or show them how many 6s they just got.
When I was a nipper we had proper chats with the staff, and all this was fields...
monders wrote: I've noticed in my local GWs that the youngsters can ONLY talk about the hobby. They interrupt conversations with the staff to point something out in a codex, or show them how many 6s they just got.
When I was a nipper we had proper chats with the staff, and all this was fields...
Maybe all that drilling into their heads of "hobby-related conversations only!" has paid off...
Try working in a FLGS when your work mates and Manager tell every customer not to buy GW products because they're gak ( I kid you not i had a customer with about £150 worth of Orks in his hands and the Manager said "Why are you buying that c**p ? you'd be better off buying a Hornby trainset " customer puts product back on shelf and goes up the road to another shop and returns 20 mins later with £200 of Orks )
monders wrote: I've noticed in my local GWs that the youngsters can ONLY talk about the hobby. They interrupt conversations with the staff to point something out in a codex, or show them how many 6s they just got.
When I was a nipper we had proper chats with the staff, and all this was fields...
Maybe all that drilling into their heads of "hobby-related conversations only!" has paid off...
A GW store I once went too considered kicking you out if you went off topic but realized how stupid it was. 2 months later they are enforcing that rule.
And the GW psychological conditioning of "PURGE THE NON GW" has indeed succeeded.
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master of ordinance wrote: There was a lad at my GW whom glued his face to the painting table....
He had dropped his paintbrush and failed to notice the spilt superglue puddle when he bent to retrieve it. The side of his face made contact with the table, he grabbed his brush, then tried to get back up.
Sadly for him, this was old GW superglue, not the crappy new stuff. His face was stuck fast. I cannot remember how they got him off, but the story became a legend for us in Preston.
And the moral of this, is too always look before you reach.
Then there was the time I became the manager temporarily......
A face gluing allegedly occurred at my local GW as well. Never looked into it mind you but...
I had a fairly horrible experience with a filling in manager (The story got around quite a bit when I first posted it on Dakka ) where he wouldn't let me share a friends rule book when we where already half way through a game, and where told to pack up and that I couldn't play today. I then began talking to a friend, writing army/purchase lists and such with his help and then he butted in asking ''What I was doing'', to which I answered writing a list. He responded with ''You can do that at home'' and promptly kicked me out and threated to call the POLICE when I asked him to explain why he was kicking me out. ''For doing nothing'' is what he said. Horrible, Horrible man in my opinion.
But I got that sorted out when I talked to the *real* manager when he came back from holiday, had a lot of help off of Dakka in writing my letter of complaint, and gave it in. I later found out that my letter put him on a kind of ''To watch list'' so when he went back to his own store and some one complained, they took 'disciplinary actions' (From the mouth of my friendly Manager) and he no longer works there. So I guess he got his just deserts!
monders wrote: I've noticed in my local GWs that the youngsters can ONLY talk about the hobby. They interrupt conversations with the staff to point something out in a codex, or show them how many 6s they just got.
When I was a nipper we had proper chats with the staff, and all this was fields...
Ah yes. I remember having some amazing chats with the old staff members at my local GW. I still have good conversations with them, except they are no longer GW employees, instead they are members of Red Steel-the gaming club at our FLGS.
But the stuff we talked about... Anything from Halo, too Firefly too the LOTR movies, too all kinds of stuff. DnD, Magic, what you had been up to, etc where all topics of conversation.
I do miss the good old days. But I welcome the new ones, as they have introduced me too a wider community and too other games that I can enjoy, besides the GW stuff.
I may start going too my local GW again after Yule. I havnt much time for gaming ATMO, due too the fact that my college is on the same day as club night, and on the day after. And I have recently developed sleep issues. So I hope that I can go and enjoy a game of WHFB or 40K as I used too at GW Preston.
monders wrote:I've noticed in my local GWs that the youngsters can ONLY talk about the hobby. They interrupt conversations with the staff to point something out in a codex, or show them how many 6s they just got.
When I was a nipper we had proper chats with the staff, and all this was fields...
I believe GW has a store policy of 'hobby only' conversation during trading hours (9-5 or whenever), I've seen a couple of folks chastised for going off-topic
They have the same policy at my local Games Workshop, but only when it's crowded. I can always talk to the staffers about everyday stuff (and flirt with the hot manager) when there's only me or a few other people there.
I can understand why they have such a policy, but it's still stupid IMO.
This is relatively minor compared to the other stories out there:
Just last week I took a 4 hour trip to a GW store to pick up a Grimaldus for a friend with cancer. Got to the store, lights were on, doors were locked. Store hours and holiday hours stated the store should be open. Called in to the 1-800 number on the door...and after 10-15 minutes of being on hold/conversations we were told the store operator was home "sick" and wouldn't be in that day.
Brillow80 wrote: This is relatively minor compared to the other stories out there:
Just last week I took a 4 hour trip to a GW store to pick up a Grimaldus for a friend with cancer. Got to the store, lights were on, doors were locked. Store hours and holiday hours stated the store should be open. Called in to the 1-800 number on the door...and after 10-15 minutes of being on hold/conversations we were told the store operator was home "sick" and wouldn't be in that day.
Not the most pleased.
That's sadly the downfall of the 1-man store, if the employee gets sick and there isn't a regional guy to cover, the store is shut down.
I've got a bad store-ish story...
I've recently started playing HeroClix once a week at a local FLGS. The group isn't a bad group, there are some cool dudes, a few new players like myself, but the 'judge' can be a bit of a prick. He plays in the weekly events regardless of whether or not there is a need for a 'ringer'. Since he plays in the events, he feels entitled to the prizes. And since he's decently good, he manages to come in first every week. So the way this guy does prizes is that everyone pays him the event fee and he goes and buys a few booster packs and gravity feed (single model boosters). At the end of the event, we open them up and 1st place gets to pick first, and we just go on through the cycle until there are no prizes left. Usually everyone walks out with 2 models (about the price of 2 gravity feeds). So since the judge comes in first pretty much every week, he is able to snipe the best models, rarest models, etc... Now this kind of grates on me as someone that used to judge events for other games (Malifaux namely). I knew it was my job to be fair to the people playing in my events. During my events I would only get to play if there was a bye round, and no matter the result of that game, the person I played got a win (as per usual for bye rounds).
So this HeroClix judge either doesn't seem to realize this, or he knows what he's doing. I'm willing to bet that it's the latter considering he's expecting to play in an organized event tomorrow that he's running. Now this isn't just a normal event he puts on, but this is one of the monthly event kits that WizKids sells that cost like 20 dollars to play in, and has a limited edition figure or two up for grabs. As judge of the event he gets these models already as a way of WizKids saying thanks for running the event. Now I have no delusions of grandeur and know I have no chance to get some of these models, but it sort of sticks in my craw that he's doing this. I'm pretty new to this group, so I don't feel it's my place to say something... yet... and I might not even be able to make it tomorrow night, but the fact still stands that I'm a little miffed at this.
Sadly, this isn't the only shady thing he does. The store has a rewards system. You earn points for every dollar you purchase, and you can use these points for like 25% off a purchase, $30, $50, or $75 off of a purchase. I haven't been on the receiving end of this yet, but the week I started showing up, he had purchased a gravity feed box. It comes with 24 single model boosters, it costs like 75 dollars if you were to buy one of these boxes on your own (at like no discount). So it turns out the reason he was able to get that was because of the weekly events. Everyone pays him cash for the event (which is why I found out why he wanted cash for the event instead of me paying the store), he walks over picks out a few boosters and gravity feeds and purchases them from the store. So every week he's getting 18-36 points. After 12 weeks, he's earned pretty much enough credit to buy a gravity feed box. So money from a variety of people is pooled together at a store with a rewards system and the perks are reaped by 1 guy... I would assume you'd basically distribute the wealth back to the people that helped you earn it, add some extra prize support, have a raffle, but not just keep it for yourself... :-\
*sigh* I've yet to really meet TFG lists in the game, but this judge makes me not want to play at that store. Which sucks because the store isn't a bad place to play at and the store owner is basically looking for a thriving HeroClix community so he has a reason to keep stocking the product... I'm sure watching players leave for other stores is gonna do wonders for his pocketbook...
Cyporiean wrote: IIRC from my Heroclix days, Judges were not eligible for Prize Support for events they ran was a rule in WizKid's judges packet.
Looking at the Tournament rules, you're correct. If I see this happening, I might open my big mouth. I'm not so involved at this store that I couldn't afford to just not show up anymore...
Edit: A Dakkanaut has informed me that I might not have been too clear on this. I wouldn't tell WizKids since they would just pull support for future events, which would kill HeroClix at this store. I would confront the judge about it to his face, since a judge can be replaced.
MRPYM wrote: My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
Nathan of gw Wellington also did this to people.
I've heard so many similar stories that I reckon it's a trick taught them at GW basic training, under "Salesmanship".
MRPYM wrote: My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
A fine reply would be "No, it is your responsibility to find a more stable job to feed your family".
Guilt trips are the refuge of the lazy: they make their problem yours.
Sorry it happened.
That same happened t my store when someone came in with drop zone commander. The Manager said "Why didnt you buy from me, That was money I could use for food" I said to him "You stopped stocking them weeks ago"
Best one I ever was somewhat involved in happened about 10 years ago and sort of started the cracking of my rose colored glasses about GW. There were two US GW stores about 10 miles apart, a northern one and a southern one. I frequented the northern one (my store) and occasionally went to the southern store, enough to know the staff. IMO, my store had a great staff, while the other store had d-bag for a manager who not only was a suck-up, but also all the stereotypes for bad GW managers.
The southern store was having a tournament, with it and my store having a small competition on which store had better players. In addition, the regional Sales manager for GW was going to be playing. I was not able to attend the tournament, but several regulars from my store attended.
Quick side story about the Regional Sales manager. I, as well as several of my store's regulars, had played him and he was notorious for cheating. The two most common forms were pre-measure during his movement phase for shooting and assaults and front to back models during movement, or just measuring, pulling the tap measure and then moving the model. He would get called on this and kind of blow it off, with even the manager stepping in occasionally in a "come on man" fashion.
Long story short, the Regional Manager ends up winning the tournament with an illegal list. Not only that, at least one of his opponent had pointed out the list was illegal and that he was cheating during his movement phase. D-bag manager ruled that his list was fine and gave him a polite warning about his movement. After the tournament, several people complained about it to my stores manager and he basically said he could do anything.
Specific item that was illegal, he was playing IW and ended up with 5 heavies. He took a Land Raider as a transport for an elite unit and never paid for the heavy slot, taking 4 other heavies as well. He basically treated it like a rhino being added to a CSM squad.
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Talizvar wrote: A fine reply would be "No, it is your responsibility to find a more stable job to feed your family".
Guilt trips are the refuge of the lazy: they make their problem yours.
Sorry it happened.
I typically reply with "so do I".
For GW specifically, I point out that it's better for GW that I buy models at a discount than not buy models at all. I see the GW stores as being supplemented by corporate to have a place to play and promote the game, selling product is a secondary benefit.
MRPYM wrote: My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
Nathan of gw Wellington also did this to people.
I've heard so many similar stories that I reckon it's a trick taught them at GW basic training, under "Salesmanship".
This is valid. I'm in sales and if I don't collapse in tears at the prospect of losing my house/ my kids starving at least twice day then I'm just not working hard enough.
It's second only to the "double dog dare" sales technique.
Reading all of these stories makes me happy that my current FLGS (and it's owner), are so laid-back and welcoming. The owner/only employee is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, and will do anything for his customers. It doesn't bother him if you buy from him or not, he just wants to see people in his store having a good time playing their games.
MRPYM wrote: My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
Nathan of gw Wellington also did this to people.
I've heard so many similar stories that I reckon it's a trick taught them at GW basic training, under "Salesmanship".
Whenever I have worked in sales I believe that statements of this type were illegal and if not illegal they were severely frowned upon. In short I am not surprised GW teaches this as their salesmen are inept to say the least.
The store I go to has a "MTG night" and a "40k night" so the 2 groups don't come into contact much. But this sounds horrifying.
Yeah the store I go to has seperate rooms this sounds like the best idea yet.
Meh, I usually find it sad if you really have to literally put up walls between the two. Especially here in Switzerland the community is allready small enough at it is, so addiotional Fanboy-Flamewars would be really really stupid. Lucky, I have yet to witness a Story like that over here and I hope it stays that way.
Now, about that "Why didnt you buy from me?", others have said it, but that guilttrip-stuff drives me up the walls. Especially since it seems to be common. I helped a mate of mine make a Shopping-List for christmas, he wanted to start an IG army. He lives a few hours from my place, and since he has a shop fairly close to him that sells some Minis I went over and we entered the shop (It was a LFGS with some tables etc., afaik we have no official GW's over here.). He bought a Battleforce Box, brushes and a few paints ( Dont remember the exact name, something with Cadia me thinks.) but some of the Tanks he wanted werent in stock. As most people know, buying at your local store costs more, so Buddy decided to go over the numbers again before ordering the Tanks over the shop, lest he wouldnt be able to pay them after they arrive. Back home, after hammering those numbers into his budget, he realised that the if we bought everything locally, he would have to remove some vehicles from his shopping list. We decided to order the stuff Online on one of the 20% discount sites.
You would not BELIEVE the flak he got after entering the store again with his new tanks a few days later. Not only the owner, but every other player there switched to "Lecture/guilttrip"-mode instantly. Nevermind that he had allready spent upwards 150 CHF in the very same hut a few days before. I realise that Clubs and the like need the money from their players, even if they pay more. But there is a fething line. Some people dont have the money to buy entire armys locally, if this means around 100 bucks you payed extra. And as long as there are alternatives a Storekeep should be careful how he treats his guys, my Bud decided on the spot that he would take his business elsewhere, he even brought back the unopened battlebox and demanded his money back.
The above gets especially grating when you catch flak for buying systems the Store/Club doesnt even stock. If im not completely mistaken stuff like Malifaux and other less known systems arent in stock frequently. And still some Storekeeps will loose their gak if you even _mention_ infinity or Malifaux. Some stuff on the net makes me really glad that my local group is so great.
Oh wow, people really guilt trip you for making a sensible decision? That sounds horrible.
As it is, on the MTG front, my FLGS has a strong MTG and Yu-Gi-Oh fanbase. But they also have X-wing and the like. We have our gaming club on Mondays and we have never had any trouble as of yet. The MTG players are happy to welcome TT gaming, and many of us TT gamers also play MTG thus meaning that our interaction is really well. Besides, MTG night is on Friday so....
master of ordinance wrote: Oh wow, people really guilt trip you for making a sensible decision? That sounds horrible.
As it is, on the MTG front, my FLGS has a strong MTG and Yu-Gi-Oh fanbase. But they also have X-wing and the like. We have our gaming club on Mondays and we have never had any trouble as of yet. The MTG players are happy to welcome TT gaming, and many of us TT gamers also play MTG thus meaning that our interaction is really well. Besides, MTG night is on Friday so....
I've been guiltripped by a store that I had bought over $500 worth of models from because I bought $60 worth of stuff online that I knew would take them months to get.
While I was holding $60 worth of their merchandise in my hand that I was about to buy.
My FLGS owner is a really likeable guy, and owns 3 gaming stores in the area (just far enough away that they don't directly compete with each other, but close enough that he can usually drag people from 1 store to another for larger events .
When my buddy and I were starting to get people interested in Warmahordes, a pair of brothers bought the 2 player starter set online, brought it in fully assembled and started getting the painting done. He walks over, and says, "Huh, I don't remember selling you those kits." Gives them a wink and walks back to helping some magic players the guys looked at him and said, "we were impatient, sorry..." He was giving them a hard time because the friday night gamers (including those two brothers) buy about 200 bucks of stuff every week, so he's certainly not hurting from us buying from other stores. We support his store whenever we're there, because we play there.
But if he said, "I have a family to feed", etc... we might give him the stink eye. He's certainly not ignorant of the fact that we can get stuff cheaper from other stores, so he does what he can to keep us happy. He gives us a nice, well lit place to play, he gives his regulars a 10% discount, has a discount system in place for other people (15% after 100 dollars spent on the back of his business card), has a 'deal' for magic cards, and sells booster boxes for 100 bucks on release night, and guarantees you that box.
And then the other store I go to overcharges :-\
My dad and I went in there and we bought a few X-Wing models I didn't have, and my dad was complaining about the price after we left, and I had mentioned that he marked everything up. Like this gak is sometimes hard enough to justify as it is, why would you mark it up?!
master of ordinance wrote: Oh wow, people really guilt trip you for making a sensible decision? That sounds horrible.
As it is, on the MTG front, my FLGS has a strong MTG and Yu-Gi-Oh fanbase. But they also have X-wing and the like. We have our gaming club on Mondays and we have never had any trouble as of yet. The MTG players are happy to welcome TT gaming, and many of us TT gamers also play MTG thus meaning that our interaction is really well. Besides, MTG night is on Friday so....
Aye, this makes the whole thing even more moronic. Its absolutely no biggie to just designate different days to different systems and have everyone get along. But sadly, as you probably know, there are allways those people that just NEED to let you know that:
master of ordinance wrote: Oh wow, people really guilt trip you for making a sensible decision? That sounds horrible.
As it is, on the MTG front, my FLGS has a strong MTG and Yu-Gi-Oh fanbase. But they also have X-wing and the like. We have our gaming club on Mondays and we have never had any trouble as of yet. The MTG players are happy to welcome TT gaming, and many of us TT gamers also play MTG thus meaning that our interaction is really well. Besides, MTG night is on Friday so....
I've been guiltripped by a store that I had bought over $500 worth of models from because I bought $60 worth of stuff online that I knew would take them months to get.
While I was holding $60 worth of their merchandise in my hand that I was about to buy.
I didn't know whether to laugh or be angry.
I would've put the stuff back on the shelf and been done buying there.
My FLGS knows I buy online (both M:TG and 40k) and doesn't care - since I've spent a few thousand dollars there and have traded in cards that have gotten them a significant amount of money.
Guilt tripping your regulars makes zero sense.
Stuebi- I think you misunderstood my meaning. We have two rooms next to each other one with war gaming tables (the store has WM/H. Flames, Bolt Action, Star Wars, Star Trek, Malifaux 40k, and Fantasy games regularly.) Then they have a room next door with regular tables for those who wish to play magic or board games or hobby. Also there tables are lower to the ground making them more comfortable to sit at. Also they do a wonderful job of eliminating any funk issues.
captain collius wrote: Also there tables are lower to the ground making them more comfortable to sit at. Also they do a wonderful job of eliminating any funk issues.
They can also be a good tool for pinpointing which side produces the most funk, should that ever become a big enough issue
The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
Laban wrote: The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
Laban wrote: The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
Laban wrote: The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
Yeah it happens, every single time I ever tried to play as a young teenager I always met clicky neckbeards who used to not exactly mock me, but sort of.. sit in groups of 4-6 that all knew each other, and would constantly use "in jokes" and mutter amongst themselves and scoff a lot, or laugh loudly and when asked "what you laughing at?" go "Oh it doesn't matter you wouldn't get it"
I guess you are either lucky or you aren't, since arriving in the states I have been really lucky and met plenty of really sound blokes to play with, as is almost always the case in life, it just depends on chance, you either get a good crowd near your house or a gak one, its the luck of the draw.
Keep at it, try some other places, click unfunny neckbeards only make up about 40% of the hobby, so the odds are slightly in our favor!
Awhile back a store that is just far enough away that I only get there once or twice a year had a special deal. They kept a book on how much you spent on GW product, and if you hit the one thousand dollar mark you get a free Battalion box. A good friend of mine took the challenge and in a few years he was just under the mark. We drove down there on the day after Christmas ready to collect on the deal, only to find that they had decided to discontinue the offer earlier in the year.
Laban wrote: The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
Its really sad that grown men (assuming thats what they are) felt the need to bully someone who is trying to partake in their hobby. If your painting was poor they should could have offered you advice on how to approve instead of acting like bitchy school kids.
Thats one thing I do love about another one of my hobbies Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Everyone gets their ass kicked when they start. But while you are getting your ass kicked as a noob the regulars will be telling you how to defend yourself and get improve on your position. I have never seen anyone mocked for being poor, except if they walk in talking about how tough they are.
Places like Dakka do the same thing with painting critique and advice, unless someone comes in and talks about their painting is the best in the world (in which case they get shot down if its not true. If your painting is just bad someone will tell you why and how to make it better, thats the way people should treat each other. Its a shame that people in the real world do not conduct themselves in that way as often.
snurl wrote: Awhile back a store that is just far enough away that I only get there once or twice a year had a special deal. They kept a book on how much you spent on GW product, and if you hit the one thousand dollar mark you get a free Battalion box. A good friend of mine took the challenge and in a few years he was just under the mark. We drove down there on the day after Christmas ready to collect on the deal, only to find that they had decided to discontinue the offer earlier in the year.
wow really. That sucks. You would think they would let people know so anyone close could splurg spend to get the deal.
snurl wrote: Awhile back a store that is just far enough away that I only get there once or twice a year had a special deal. They kept a book on how much you spent on GW product, and if you hit the one thousand dollar mark you get a free Battalion box. A good friend of mine took the challenge and in a few years he was just under the mark. We drove down there on the day after Christmas ready to collect on the deal, only to find that they had decided to discontinue the offer earlier in the year.
wow really. That sucks. You would think they would let people know so anyone close could splurg spend to get the deal.
"and in a few years he was just under the mark"
It sucks for your friend sure, but really what was he expecting? Plenty can happen to a business in a few years.... they sure aren't obligated to maintain every special offer for years to come. I'm sure the intention was to reward people who regularly bought from their business, in which you would easily spend $1k in a year to a year and half.
Laban wrote: The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
Something similar has happened to me.
I used to go in to the local GW after work to paint mostly, and play rarely. A friend would tease me about how I never played, and how he wanted to get in a game with me. Finally I agreed. We're playing, having a great time, and some corpulent neckbeard with too small T-shirt is watching me. I go to use some Night Goblins, which were unpainted (one of a couple unpainted units on the board altogether). I like to field all painted stuff, but wanted to try these guys out. I fluff a roll and the gobbos fail, which is a turning point for the game. Neckbeard sneers and says, "Well, that's what you get for using unpainted models." I give the look of death, and say, "Mind your own business." He waddled off, but I lost all desire to play WFB in public after that.
Another time, right after Dreadfleet came out, a group of friends and I did a mass battle with each of us piloting a ship. It was actually pretty fun, but a creepy nasty dude who had a weird obsession with me would stand across the store and yell "advice" at me about what to do even though he had deliberately been excluded from the game for being a d-bag. I tried to be polite, but after several times of being talked over, interrupted, and generally treated like an idiot, I finally said in a deadly calm but loud voice, "Why don't you shut up and let me play MY game?" The whole store went silent, shocked. Keep in mind, I am very friendly and nice to all unless bullied, and no one had seen me get pushed like that... So I played my turn like nothing happened. Creepydude sniveled and went back to browsing the shelves. He had obviously made the mistake of thinking being nice means being weak. He left me alone after that.
Laban wrote: The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
When and where was this?
Prisfyndet in Uppsala, roughly 10 years ago or so.
Back in the LOTR boom I was at a tournament in GW Glasgow. I had won all of my games, then gotten to the last round.
However, as there was odd numbers, I had ended up playing against one of the staff there. He ended up basically cheating throughout the game, completely changing the core concepts of the rules etc (if anyone was curious, he was doing multiple on multiple combats).
When I protested to the other staffmembers about this, I got, "he's the LOTR guy, he knows what he's talking about." And any attempts at pointing out the actual rules, in the rulebook was met with a Chewbacca Defence from both staffmembers.
I then, of course, got the whole banned/barred threat for arguing/disagreeing.
I of course, lost that game, and the tournament.
7 years later, I'm still bitter about it. This was probably the exact start of me falling out with Games Workshop and tournaments.
Gymnogyps wrote: I like to field all painted stuff, but wanted to try these guys out. I fluff a roll and the gobbos fail, which is a turning point for the game. Neckbeard sneers and says, "Well, that's what you get for using unpainted models." I give the look of death, and say, "Mind your own business." He waddled off, but I lost all desire to play WFB in public after that.
Gymnogyps wrote: I like to field all painted stuff, but wanted to try these guys out. I fluff a roll and the gobbos fail, which is a turning point for the game. Neckbeard sneers and says, "Well, that's what you get for using unpainted models." I give the look of death, and say, "Mind your own business." He waddled off, but I lost all desire to play WFB in public after that.
Is it possible that you're very thin skinned?
I have to agree a bit on this one thing. it was the in-joke at games workshop where he probably picked it up. They would tell you "painted models fight better" and things like that. He was probably trying to cheer you up with gaming jargon he thought you might react to. But I can see how you could take it wrong, especially if the tone was not proper (hint: socially akward people, many of whom play 40k, have trouble striking that tone)
Gymnogyps wrote: I like to field all painted stuff, but wanted to try these guys out. I fluff a roll and the gobbos fail, which is a turning point for the game. Neckbeard sneers and says, "Well, that's what you get for using unpainted models." I give the look of death, and say, "Mind your own business." He waddled off, but I lost all desire to play WFB in public after that.
I have to agree a bit on this one thing. it was the in-joke at games workshop where he probably picked it up. They would tell you "painted models fight better" and things like that. He was probably trying to cheer you up with gaming jargon he thought you might react to. But I can see how you could take it wrong, especially if the tone was not proper (hint: socially akward people, many of whom play 40k, have trouble striking that tone)
snurl wrote: Awhile back a store that is just far enough away that I only get there once or twice a year had a special deal. They kept a book on how much you spent on GW product, and if you hit the one thousand dollar mark you get a free Battalion box. A good friend of mine took the challenge and in a few years he was just under the mark. We drove down there on the day after Christmas ready to collect on the deal, only to find that they had decided to discontinue the offer earlier in the year.
wow really. That sucks. You would think they would let people know so anyone close could splurg spend to get the deal.
"and in a few years he was just under the mark"
It sucks for your friend sure, but really what was he expecting? Plenty can happen to a business in a few years.... they sure aren't obligated to maintain every special offer for years to come. I'm sure the intention was to reward people who regularly bought from their business, in which you would easily spend $1k in a year to a year and half.
There was no notice. The deal was in place to reward their regular customers. Everything was A-OK with them each time we went down there, they knew we didn't come in that often, then one day, Poof!
And I don't spend $1k in a year and a half. more like 4 years for that much. This year I only bought some paint and some kickstarter dwarves.
Anyways.
I was on a trip with a friend and his wife, 7 days away for some baby stuff and and why out see a store and wander in with my friend why his wife was getting lunch.
I decided to get box of new wraith guard , walk up to the counter and the guy supposed to be serving looks up from his card game and just keeps playing. D:
After a few mins my friend comes over and he jumps up to ask if he needed any help...
I just walked out.. This has happen more than once. Realy drives me crazy. But he did apologise when we walked back by and my friend had explane to him .. Shouldn't happen in the first place. He isn't used to girls being interested in warhammer so it seems.
Second happen this passed week >.< and why I thaght to post here tonight. Had order a bunch of daemons and some tau for my huggable. Big order and I had given my number to the store. Who is owned by older guy and I think his little sisters son other in the store.
The older guy is realy nice and allways talks and takes a interest even if he isn't into minis (never even gets close to offensive). But the younger guy is allways being a bit much, gets to close and places his hands in places he probably shouldn't and is allways being a bit like a want to be player.
So I wake up on Wednesday to a new msg, my stuff is all in and if I come in why he is in (younger guy) he will give me a 50% discount, and a picture of his ####, and he was obviously into taking the picture :/
At lunch time I got a msg saying he is off for lunch and he can bring it all around to my house with a winky face o.< .
I just can't beleave this sorta stuff can happen :0 but then it does, again wtf.
Sorry about my english, it's not so great :0.
Snurl, that allways sorta sucks. I have had stuff like that happen before. Can be super frustrating when it happens :(
I think I could make a store rethink that policy over a year D:
That it does Azreal :p context sensitive post, I'm bit strung up tonight due to such a crazy week. Thanks.
Laban wrote: The first and only time I mustered up enough courage (I was young and insecure) to bring my army to my FLGS to play with the regulars I had to suffer through a barrage of insults about my painting quality for the entire length of the game I was playing.
since then I never played with strangers and only with my friends. Then I fell out with the hobby for nearly 10 years and nowadays I just paint models rather than play.
Something similar has happened to me.
I used to go in to the local GW after work to paint mostly, and play rarely. A friend would tease me about how I never played, and how he wanted to get in a game with me. Finally I agreed. We're playing, having a great time, and some corpulent neckbeard with too small T-shirt is watching me. I go to use some Night Goblins, which were unpainted (one of a couple unpainted units on the board altogether). I like to field all painted stuff, but wanted to try these guys out. I fluff a roll and the gobbos fail, which is a turning point for the game. Neckbeard sneers and says, "Well, that's what you get for using unpainted models." I give the look of death, and say, "Mind your own business." He waddled off, but I lost all desire to play WFB in public after that.
Gah, I hate people like that.
Was playing MTG at a Playstore over here with a buddy. Nothing serious, we were both just playing our regular decks made from Boosters and starters (Any veteran would probably laugh us out of the room seeing them). After a while some random dude just walks right up to us and watches us play. Awkward enough, but he thens tarted making comments on our playstyle, cards he deemed "bad" and just generally gawking his opinions at us. After about the fifth time, after repeatetdly mentioning we were just playing for giggles, I snapped.
"Listen, if by chance I suddenly start to give a feth about your opinion, im gonna call you. Until then, please leave us to play in peace."
I have stuff like this very often in the Tabletop scene. Im absolutely fine with people striking up a casual conversation, or introducing themselves if they're into the Hobby as well. But I cant stand people who just walk up to you and then dropping into a lecture and snarky comments "That Paintjob looks bad. That card sucks man. Wow, is that an unpainted Mini?". Usually, I just bark at them once and they leave me alone, but I completely agree that it kills the desire to play in Clubs or the like.
I actually remember a bad store story that I had not thought about in a while, but it's one that made me stop going to this particular store in North Metro Atlanta several years ago.
Back when the current Blood Angels codex came out, I was seriously considering starting a BA army. The pre-release codex thing came to the local store on a Friday, and I was really interested in getting a look at it. The unfortunate thing was that I worked about 30 miles away from the store, and traffic leaving downtown Atlanta on a Friday evening is pretty epic. It took me almost two hours to get there.
When I got there, I discovered that the son of the store's owner (who is a grown man, not a little kid) had decided to take the codex home to read rather than leave it for actual customers to look at. It didn't make its way back to the store for almost a week.
That in itself put a bad taste in my mouth.
Fast forward a few months for when WHFB 8th edition came out. I was really interested in seeing the pre-release copy to read for myself all the stuff I had heard about on the message boards. I make the same 30 mile, rush hour traffic, 90+ minute drive to the store.
Same thing. The son's owner had again taken the book home to read himself. I haven't been back to that store since then, and am glad because I've found an FLGS that provides infinitely better service that is much closer to where I live/work.
The ironic thing? At the time, that guy didn't play either 40K or WHFB.
Lastly, there was a little poetic justice involving this little event. Earlier this year, the new manager at that game store came onto the message boards for the store I currently go to try to drum up support for a tournament. He acknowledged that the store's attendance was down and wanted to try to get more people at their events. The conversation eventually led to me explaining exactly why I didn't go to the store anymore, though I had been a regular there for about 5 years previously. I relayed the exact same story as above, but with a little more detail. It turned out that the new manager to whom I was writing was that exact same owner's son who had been taking the promo copies of the books home rather than letting the customers have access to them.
Apple, I would suggest that you take all that information and the texts and such and show them to the actual owner of the store. I just say this because:
a) You shouldn't have to put up with crap like this from the store where you spend your money, and
b) The owner (the older guy) needs to know that his younger business partner seems to think it's ok to try to trade discounts on merchandise for sex.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
daedalus wrote: I'd always considered the "Store copy" thing to be a courtesy, and not something that I really demanded as a function of the store.
When the store lets people know that they are getting the pre-release copy of the book on Friday, and then you go to the store to look at it, it's not unreasonable to expect it to be there.
And, to clarify, we're not talking about a "store copy." I'm referring to the old "black box" copy of the book that came with the promotional miniatures. They used to come out a week or so before the actual release of the book for sale. The entire purpose of the "black box" release was to drum up interest in the upcoming release.
In the case of the store I mentioned, the owner (and his son) demonstrated that their own personal interest in the books was more important that the interest their customers might have in it. I'd like to also add that I was not the only person on either occassion to show up hoping for a chance to look at the books in question only to leave frustrated.
For comparison, after the incident with the 8th edition book, I left there and went to Gigabytes Cafe, which absolutely had the book there for people to look at, and there were a lot of people wanting a chance to see it.
Apple, I would suggest that you take all that information and the texts and such and show them to the actual owner of the store. I just say this because:
a) You shouldn't have to put up with crap like this from the store where you spend your money, and
b) The owner (the older guy) needs to know that his younger business partner seems to think it's ok to try to trade discounts on merchandise for sex.
That is no way to treat a female customer. That kind of behaviour is disturbing. Have some respect for your business and for her. Your personal life stays personal.
Apple Fox, you should press harassment charges. Seriously. That kinda crap is unacceptable AND it gives us gamers a bad name. Obviously the unacceptable and illegal actions are more important, but both points are still valid.
Makes me want to list my rules for customer service:
Do not inconvenience the customer. Sucks when people drive so far for something that is not there or you cannot be bothered to get up from a game to make a sale.
Love everyone and trust no-one. Everyone deserves respect and being polite, but confirm everything, people put spin on information intentional or not.
Meeting customer requests is your responsibility NOW. You may not have taken the order, placed it, or stored it, but you must go look, ask the right people and keep the customer informed: take responsibility for them.
The customer always has a right: to complain, be grumpy, be wrong or right. A customer has expectations which can lead to the emotionally charged disappointment.
Like a therapist, we have to provide options or solutions, at the very least to show every effort was made.
Abuse is to be turned away firmly and discuss a willingness to talk further when they calmed down.
The customer is not your friend, they are your livelihood. You do not get to ridicule them or show special favor (unless financially it can be justified).
You are like a butler; personable, supportive and polite but never personal or you will have tiers of customers and drive new ones away.
I get preachy... I just hate seeing relationships go bad due to lack of thought.
Anyways.
I was on a trip with a friend and his wife, 7 days away for some baby stuff and and why out see a store and wander in with my friend why his wife was getting lunch.
I decided to get box of new wraith guard , walk up to the counter and the guy supposed to be serving looks up from his card game and just keeps playing. D:
After a few mins my friend comes over and he jumps up to ask if he needed any help...
I just walked out.. This has happen more than once. Realy drives me crazy. But he did apologise when we walked back by and my friend had explane to him .. Shouldn't happen in the first place. He isn't used to girls being interested in warhammer so it seems.
Second happen this passed week >.< and why I thaght to post here tonight. Had order a bunch of daemons and some tau for my huggable. Big order and I had given my number to the store. Who is owned by older guy and I think his little sisters son other in the store.
The older guy is realy nice and allways talks and takes a interest even if he isn't into minis (never even gets close to offensive). But the younger guy is allways being a bit much, gets to close and places his hands in places he probably shouldn't and is allways being a bit like a want to be player.
So I wake up on Wednesday to a new msg, my stuff is all in and if I come in why he is in (younger guy) he will give me a 50% discount, and a picture of his ####, and he was obviously into taking the picture :/
At lunch time I got a msg saying he is off for lunch and he can bring it all around to my house with a winky face o.< .
I just can't beleave this sorta stuff can happen :0 but then it does, again wtf.
Sorry about my english, it's not so great :0.
Snurl, that allways sorta sucks. I have had stuff like that happen before. Can be super frustrating when it happens :(
I think I could make a store rethink that policy over a year D:
That it does Azreal :p context sensitive post, I'm bit strung up tonight due to such a crazy week. Thanks.
That's straight up harassment. Talk to the store owner, show him the picture, then call the police. That's not cool.
This is the first time I have been able to collect my thaghts and reply here.
He had turn up at my house day after I post. (Cut out part of the story)
Was the most scary thing in my life D: but he was taken away by police so for most part it's over >.<
Thanks for letting me write it out. Both times.
Eggs wrote: Jesus. Hope you're ok? I hope he is severely punished for being such a creep. It's scum like that give the rest of us a bad name.
I will be ok, only a bruise on my back, sore wrist and broken nails. Could have been worse >.<
Wow. I'm glad the guy got taken away. I'm not familiar with Australian law but if he isn't incarcerated I hope you have a restraining order put on him.
Sorry to hear that's happened to you apple fox, hope all is ok now. Think I have been lucky with my experiences at stores. I'm a girl and have been to many GW stores, and I've never experienced any kind of sexist treatment from staff or players etc so far.
But yeah this thread has been great to read through, a lot of interesting stories. But yeah no bad experiences from my side. I remember one of the first GW shops I went to in Ireland, was in Dublin, around 2005,one of the staff was introducing how to play a game to a bunch of kids, he was reenacting the different characters getting hit on the battlefield and everything, was great fun and was really getting everyone into it
As it is, there used to be a store in Preston, called Worthy Games. Now, this was a great store. However, the owner had, as it turned out, no actual interest in it, in fact he disliked it, and only used it to fuel his painting commission company (that was bleeding money like a slit artery). Any way, things where fine for the first few months. Until after Yule. Then the signs started. Little things, like orders not being fulfilled, and shelves being left un-stocked.
Anyway, that summer, 11 months after it had opened there was a massive sale, and the store closed. I was there on the last day, up to the final closing. I remember buying hundreds of pounds worth of stuff for around £20-£30 (90% reductions in some cases ).
But the real kicker was this: the store owed Red Steel, the club, money. Allot of money. And did he pay up? No. Instead, he pointed to some terrain that one of the floor staff had painted for us in good faith, and said that the job was equal to the value. It wasnt, not by a long chalk. Whats more, some of the terrain packs promised to the club where sold back to the suppliers. And there was nothing we could do about it.
I know at least one other person who got screwed big time by Worthy. Bunch of thieves.
Apple fox wrote: This is the first time I have been able to collect my thaghts and reply here.
He had turn up at my house day after I post. (Cut out part of the story)
Was the most scary thing in my life D: but he was taken away by police so for most part it's over >.<
Thanks for letting me write it out. Both times.
While I'm in a GW store, I tend to use their paints (GW paints owned by me), sprays and tools. But, being a guy who likes to have his miniatures last, there's one thing gee dub doesn't provide to Queensland, Australia that I simply refuse to do without: spray on Matte varnish. I use a tamiya spray varnish that's served me admirably.
Anyway, so I finish painting some model or other, and I go outside to put on the matte varnish. The store's bloke, an old GW employee and the manger at that store, asks if he could use he spray. Being a helpful sort of guy, I agree and he goes out with his miniature and sprays it. He then comes into the store with his miniature (which was clearly oversprayed) and refuses to give me my spray can back on the basis that "it wasn't a GW product" and "I shouldn't be using it in his store." He then waxes idiotic about how I am not supporting the store, etc. when I protest that I do all my GW purchasing, even the online stuff in -that- store, he retorts with "but you didn't buy this here."
Needless to say, I'm pretty peeved by this point, I point out that he doesn't sell that product. He then has the gall to suggest to Me that I buy a GW brand airbrush, GW brand aerosol and GW brand varnish (a gloss, mind you.)
I didn't go back to that store until he stopped managing. The guys who work there now are a good lot, and are pretty easy going. They know I spend a lot so they excuse me if I don't use their cements or paintbrushes, where now I only use the paints.
ok, so once i walked into the store and as i walked in i notice the guy at the counter ogling my cleavage. i ignore him but then he starts trying to chat me up and is using all of these filthy pickup lines. finally, he overhears me requesting a heavy weapons team (i only now realize how many innuendos and double entandres can be made from warhammer terms) and starts telling me something stupid. i think what he said was "id like to stick my ion cannon in your fuel line" or something like that. i left right after that. turns out he didnt even play 40k or any other game, he just dropped in from the adult book/DVD store. a few days later met the same guy outside the hobby shop. he tried hitting on me (badly) until i bluntly explained that i am lesbian (he did not seem detered by that news) and that i have a can of pepperspray in my purse. that showed him.
hotsauceman1 wrote:That same happened t my store when someone came in with drop zone commander. The Manager said "Why didnt you buy from me, That was money I could use for food" I said to him "You stopped stocking them weeks ago"
MRPYM wrote: My local GW manager tried to make me feel guilty about buying GW models from my FLGS and that I was responsible for making sure he has a job and is able to feed his family.
MrMoustaffa wrote:I've been guiltripped by a store that I had bought over $500 worth of models from because I bought $60 worth of stuff online that I knew would take them months to get.
And this is why I don't play in stores. (literally once in the last two decades)
Stuebi wrote: I have stuff like this very often in the Tabletop scene. Im absolutely fine with people striking up a casual conversation, or introducing themselves if they're into the Hobby as well. But I cant stand people who just walk up to you and then dropping into a lecture and snarky comments "That Paintjob looks bad. That card sucks man. Wow, is that an unpainted Mini?". Usually, I just bark at them once and they leave me alone, but I completely agree that it kills the desire to play in Clubs or the like.
This is the advantage to a club - people like that either change their ways or they got asked not to return. At stores, this tends to happen much less often.
About 2 years ago I started a page on Facebook for gamers in the area to join so they could arrange to meet up and play and just generally chat about gaming. Basically just trying to help out my local gaming community. At this time there was only 1 store in my local area that did Warhammer and Warmachine. This store was about 20 minutes away from me and several other gamers in my town and we would all visit this store often. Eventually another store in my town that previously only stocked comics and RPG games started to carry Warhammer. This store is down the street from my house. So I started to frequent this store more than the one in the next city over. I told the owner of the newer store about my Facebook page and how he should feel free to post events and what not on there, which the owner of the store that is 20 minutes away had been posting his events in almost exclusively since I started the page. As soon as the newer shop owner started posting events in the page I got a nasty message on Facebook from the owner that was 20 minutes away basically telling me that me and my gaming club were not allowed to wear our gaming club logo shirts to his tourneys anymore and that I wasn't allowed to tell people I met while at his store about MY Facebook page. Needless to say I don't shop at that store anymore and last I heard he had to shut down shop. The store closer to home is actually moving into a bigger location. It just left a bad taste in my mouth, getting a nasty message like that on Facebook and being told what to do with my page after it had helped get the word out about his store and generated a lot of profits for him.
SBG wrote: A lot of store operators don't get it. Treating regulars poorly like that is just asking to drive away business.
It's just immaturity and a lack of professionalism. Think about it; if you've ever worked in Retail before (I worked at a Starbucks in the middle of a busy mall for over a year), you tend to get thoughts like "man, that dude was a dick. If I were the owner, I'd kick him out" or something like that. But, when you think about it, you really can't do that. What some small business owners don't realize is that gak rolls downhill, so if you talk down to someone who previously liked your store, they'll tell friends all about their terrible experience and drive their money away from you. That's why so many large companies have those surveys, because they want to make sure they're constantly getting your money.
Can't believe how many accounts there are of shop owners complaining about the products their customers use, it's madness. Not sure if half of them even understand customer service or even just common politeness. It's like they are on a crusade to make sure no one ever sets foot near them unless everything they own has bee bought from their store alone, madness.
SBG wrote: A lot of store operators don't get it. Treating regulars poorly like that is just asking to drive away business.
It's just immaturity and a lack of professionalism. Think about it; if you've ever worked in Retail before (I worked at a Starbucks in the middle of a busy mall for over a year), you tend to get thoughts like "man, that dude was a dick. If I were the owner, I'd kick him out" or something like that. But, when you think about it, you really can't do that. What some small business owners don't realize is that gak rolls downhill, so if you talk down to someone who previously liked your store, they'll tell friends all about their terrible experience and drive their money away from you. That's why so many large companies have those surveys, because they want to make sure they're constantly getting your money.
This is pretty much what happened. I still went to the store 20 minutes away on occasion as did the other guys just out of loyalty. Once I got that message I told the guys in my club about it and basically his warhammer events went from about 20 guys(which is a crazy good amount for a 1 day FLGS tourney)to about 8-10 guys.
Glaiceana wrote: Can't believe how many accounts there are of shop owners complaining about the products their customers use, it's madness. Not sure if half of them even understand customer service or even just common politeness. It's like they are on a crusade to make sure no one ever sets foot near them unless everything they own has bee bought from their store alone, madness.
If the store is your main source of income, in can make you act in strange ways to protect your livelihood. Not justifying the actions of over zealous owners, but it helps to understand their perspective on occassion.
On Topic: We had a bit of an uproar when a 'private gaming group' made up of regulars took over a specific night at an FLGS (with the FLGS's blessing) after they lost some of their regular space to RPG players. The store required you were of a certain rewards level standing to attend and the group wanted everyone to either be vouched in or pledge (or something, my memory is foggy).
The private group ended up being more trouble than it was worth, and as such has been disbanded. The regulars still play on the same night, it just took some time and perspective to realize that privatizing isn't often a superior options to inclusiveness.
When I owned a business, the only person I banned was some girl who said she hopes my dad dies a week after we found out about his cancer, she is also lucky my girlfriend at the time dived in the way as having a uterus isn't a valid reason not to get a slap and we had all kinds of scummy miscreants patronage.
When will independent businesses learn that you haven't got an endless stream of custom and you need to protect your assets because if you suck at what you do, there's damn sure someone better at it who just needs to get the money together, and one day, they will.
We've got some minor, and stupid drama forming at the store I play HeroClix at. Because it was New Years Day and most people had the day off, we were going to run 2 events today and just make a day of HeroClix, etc... First event was, "your collection is brand new?!" and you could only use figures made in the past year and a few other rules. Sounded like a fun event, and kept a lot of the cheese out of the event, by instituting a comp of sorts. I was really looking forward to that one. The second event was an arena where everyone had a figure of various points and we would all fight on a map and last man standing won that round. Whomever won the most rounds would win the event. That was supposed to be run after the first event, but the guy running that event had NYD dinner at like 3pm (this event was supposed to be at 6:30) So he moved it up to 12:30, and it would overlap the first event. Since he had to leave early, he moved it up so that when his event was finished everyone would basically leave, because his event would still be going on when the original first event was slated to start.
So the guy running the first event canceled and said, "No event, because I've been bumped from my time slot by so and so." I told the guy that moved his event up that I was really looking forward to the other event, and most likely wouldn't be showing up to his event.
Woo stupid drama >_<
But the upside to this was, I got to watch the NHL Winter Classic instead
SBG wrote: A lot of store operators don't get it. Treating regulars poorly like that is just asking to drive away business.
It's just immaturity and a lack of professionalism. Think about it; if you've ever worked in Retail before (I worked at a Starbucks in the middle of a busy mall for over a year), you tend to get thoughts like "man, that dude was a dick. If I were the owner, I'd kick him out" or something like that. But, when you think about it, you really can't do that. What some small business owners don't realize is that gak rolls downhill, so if you talk down to someone who previously liked your store, they'll tell friends all about their terrible experience and drive their money away from you. That's why so many large companies have those surveys, because they want to make sure they're constantly getting your money.
Yep.
Which is why people that open stores as gamers first and businessmen second should probably just take the 100k-200k they are going to inevitably blow on it, and give it to a charity where it will do some good.
You explain the exact mentality, coupled with poor business knowledge / sense / experience as to why many stores end up shuttering - even past the statistical norm that most retail places close within the first 1-5 years anyway.
With a patron community as insular and cliquey as wargaming, if you screw one person over, the entire local community will hear about it. Might not impact you, but it might, and if it does, there's only so many customers in a 50 mile area that might be willing to regularly patron your store. Alienating any of them unless for extremely justifiable cause (theft, illegality of any kind, etc etc) is taking a gamble with your business.
The best store owners make every regular patron think, while they are there, that they are one of their good buddies. And certainly treat every patron, even non-regulars, with friendly respect. Even if when that patron leaves, the first words muttered under the owner's breath are "what a dick."
... that and some rudimentary business knowledge, ofc.
As it is, there used to be a store in Preston, called Worthy Games. Now, this was a great store. However, the owner had, as it turned out, no actual interest in it, in fact he disliked it, and only used it to fuel his painting commission company (that was bleeding money like a slit artery). Any way, things where fine for the first few months. Until after Yule. Then the signs started. Little things, like orders not being fulfilled, and shelves being left un-stocked.
Anyway, that summer, 11 months after it had opened there was a massive sale, and the store closed. I was there on the last day, up to the final closing. I remember buying hundreds of pounds worth of stuff for around £20-£30 (90% reductions in some cases ).
But the real kicker was this: the store owed Red Steel, the club, money. Allot of money. And did he pay up? No. Instead, he pointed to some terrain that one of the floor staff had painted for us in good faith, and said that the job was equal to the value. It wasnt, not by a long chalk. Whats more, some of the terrain packs promised to the club where sold back to the suppliers. And there was nothing we could do about it.
I know at least one other person who got screwed big time by Worthy. Bunch of thieves.
The floor staff where excellent. It was actually one of them whom painted the terrain for us, as he just wanted to help us get it all done (there was a lot).
It was the owner/manager/suprme overlord who was the real problem.
@ Applefox-that is really screwed over and i hope that that sick fether gets put away for a good long time. That kind of person is a disgrace to all, not just the hobby.
I also hope that you are okay and that this incident has not put you off the hobby. There a precious few ladys as it is.
Scipio Africanus wrote: ... He then comes into the store with his miniature (which was clearly oversprayed) and refuses to give me my spray can back on the basis that "it wasn't a GW product" and "I shouldn't be using it in his store."
Ah, I think this is where I would snap that tiny bit.
A reply around the line of: "I loaned you the use of my property and you refuse to give it back... really? You have shown quite admirably that it IS mine, shall we discuss this with the police or will you be a chum and hand it over? I will assume you had lost your mind just for a moment."
The sense of entitlement is quite extraordinary.
I really wonder what people really imagine would happen acting like that.
I tend to not reward bad behavior so I do whatever it takes to gain some measure of justice in these matters so he thinks twice before he tries it again on anyone (don't care quite so much about me).
I think some of the issues from some store owners comes from the customers themselves. Note that Im not blaming people in this thread or anything, just customers in general.
For example, lets take customers bringing in models they didn't buy at the store. That in itself isn't a big deal. Most store owners wouldn't even notice. But I've seen players who come in to use the tables, set up their army, and then loudly brag that they bought their whole army online for far cheaper than they could have gotten it in the store, often times right in front of new customers or the owner. In this instance I'd imagine a store owner would quickly build a negative view of customers
MrMoustaffa wrote: I think some of the issues from some store owners comes from the customers themselves. Note that Im not blaming people in this thread or anything, just customers in general.
For example, lets take customers bringing in models they didn't buy at the store. That in itself isn't a big deal. Most store owners wouldn't even notice. But I've seen players who come in to use the tables, set up their army, and then loudly brag that they bought their whole army online for far cheaper than they could have gotten it in the store, often times right in front of new customers or the owner. In this instance I'd imagine a store owner would quickly build a negative view of customers
Jesus... that takes some brass balls to do. Wouldn't be surprised if someone who did that was warned, and if he kept doing it, banned from the establishment.
I mean that's someone who is actively trying to turn not only his own business away from the store, but others as well, and then has the balls to come in and flaunt it, and not just flaunt it - openly promulgate it to others in an encouraging manner.
... and yeah, store owners disliking customers isn't out of the norm. A smart businessman doesn't let it show though. You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you. You should absolutely never bite the jerks hand that is holding money he intends to give you.
It can be hard to treat clients your lukewarm and out and out don't like in the same manner as those you genuinely like, but it's the best way to do business, unless a client honest and truly is just more pain and effort than they are worth.
If you hate someone, the best you can do is nicely convince them to give you all their money. Then when they're screwed, you've won and they've lost. It's a thought some store owners don't get. Why do you turn someone away that you don't like?
MrMoustaffa wrote: I think some of the issues from some store owners comes from the customers themselves. Note that Im not blaming people in this thread or anything, just customers in general.
For example, lets take customers bringing in models they didn't buy at the store. That in itself isn't a big deal. Most store owners wouldn't even notice. But I've seen players who come in to use the tables, set up their army, and then loudly brag that they bought their whole army online for far cheaper than they could have gotten it in the store, often times right in front of new customers or the owner. In this instance I'd imagine a store owner would quickly build a negative view of customers
Not to derail the thread, but at my local GW, one customer actually brought in the unopened box from Ebay and opened it right in the store (OOP Plague Marines), showed the miniatures to the manager and and all about how he got them via Ebay, then had the balls to ask the Manager if he could throw the box away in the trash. People seriously disgust me. It's a shame too, because the manager is worried about getting axed (mainly due to a very terrible location) and then he has to deal with that.
MrMoustaffa wrote: I think some of the issues from some store owners comes from the customers themselves. Note that Im not blaming people in this thread or anything, just customers in general.
For example, lets take customers bringing in models they didn't buy at the store. That in itself isn't a big deal. Most store owners wouldn't even notice. But I've seen players who come in to use the tables, set up their army, and then loudly brag that they bought their whole army online for far cheaper than they could have gotten it in the store, often times right in front of new customers or the owner. In this instance I'd imagine a store owner would quickly build a negative view of customers
Not to derail the thread, but at my local GW, one customer actually brought in the unopened box from Ebay and opened it right in the store (OOP Plague Marines), showed the miniatures to the manager and and all about how he got them via Ebay, then had the balls to ask the Manager if he could throw the box away in the trash. People seriously disgust me. It's a shame too, because the manager is worried about getting axed (mainly due to a very terrible location) and then he has to deal with that.
Where they OOP when he bought them?
If so an (imo good) argument could be made that if they no longer produce that model there is nothing wrong with going to ebay for it.
Glaiceana wrote: Sorry to hear that's happened to you apple fox, hope all is ok now. Think I have been lucky with my experiences at stores. I'm a girl and have been to many GW stores, and I've never experienced any kind of sexist treatment from staff or players etc so far.
But yeah this thread has been great to read through, a lot of interesting stories. But yeah no bad experiences from my side. I remember one of the first GW shops I went to in Ireland, was in Dublin, around 2005,one of the staff was introducing how to play a game to a bunch of kids, he was reenacting the different characters getting hit on the battlefield and everything, was great fun and was really getting everyone into it
Where they OOP when he bought them?
If so an (imo good) argument could be made that if they no longer produce that model there is nothing wrong with going to ebay for it.
Yes, but he pretty much said he bought them because of the price, not the for the fact that they are OOP.
MrMoustaffa wrote: I think some of the issues from some store owners comes from the customers themselves. Note that Im not blaming people in this thread or anything, just customers in general.
For example, lets take customers bringing in models they didn't buy at the store. That in itself isn't a big deal. Most store owners wouldn't even notice. But I've seen players who come in to use the tables, set up their army, and then loudly brag that they bought their whole army online for far cheaper than they could have gotten it in the store, often times right in front of new customers or the owner. In this instance I'd imagine a store owner would quickly build a negative view of customers
Yeah that definitely isn't on, that's practically purposely ruining the business of the shop. There's whole sites dedicated to stories of customers being stupid, it happens, and the store owners will inevitably come across a bad customer.
Where they OOP when he bought them?
If so an (imo good) argument could be made that if they no longer produce that model there is nothing wrong with going to ebay for it.
Yes, but he pretty much said he bought them because of the price, not the for the fact that they are OOP.
Fair enough.
Still.. if I got my hands on some Diaz Daemonettes I'd probably enjoy parading them around my local GW just a bit too much
Glaiceana wrote: Sorry to hear that's happened to you apple fox, hope all is ok now. Think I have been lucky with my experiences at stores. I'm a girl and have been to many GW stores, and I've never experienced any kind of sexist treatment from staff or players etc so far.
But yeah this thread has been great to read through, a lot of interesting stories. But yeah no bad experiences from my side. I remember one of the first GW shops I went to in Ireland, was in Dublin, around 2005,one of the staff was introducing how to play a game to a bunch of kids, he was reenacting the different characters getting hit on the battlefield and everything, was great fun and was really getting everyone into it
new a guy at a gaming center i used to go to who was a khorne player. he actoully anointed his bloodthirster with his own blood (he used an exacto knife !) at the begining of everygame. he stopped coming after some other gamers complained about it. pretty wierd, right? still, i still thank god that this guy was a nurgle player :/
Honestly, I'd be a little weirded out to if some random dude wips out his exacto knife and starts cutin and rubbin blood all over the place. Not to mention its nit sanitary, yessh
OnlyWar wrote: new a guy at a gaming center i used to go to who was a khorne player. he actoully anointed his bloodthirster with his own blood (he used an exacto knife !) at the begining of everygame. he stopped coming after some other gamers complained about it. pretty wierd, right? still, i still thank god that this guy was a nurgle player :/
Yes, very "enthusiastic" is a good description.
Wonder what motivated him enough that hurting himself was worth it...
Definitely reinforces my personal rule that everyone should handle their own models.
Certainly gets points for realism but detracts when any pets around take a strong interest in the models.
OnlyWar wrote: new a guy at a gaming center i used to go to who was a khorne player. he actoully anointed his bloodthirster with his own blood (he used an exacto knife !) at the begining of everygame. he stopped coming after some other gamers complained about it. pretty wierd, right? still, i still thank god that this guy was a nurgle player :/
Yes, very "enthusiastic" is a good description.
Wonder what motivated him enough that hurting himself was worth it...
Definitely reinforces my personal rule that everyone should handle their own models.
Certainly gets points for realism but detracts when any pets around take a strong interest in the models.
Buddy and I drove up to Orlando from Miami for an event years ago. This was at the beginning of 4th. There were two awards. Best overall and best army. The award for best overall was to be the new SM army set which was like a $240 set. Best Army was to get the LEWH Inquisitor model.
I win best overall with max points in battle and near perfect in painting.
When they announce the Awards, I win Best Army and the local guy with the Pro Painted by a GD winner Army who lost all 3 games wins Best Overall.
My local gaming store was very nice. Great staff, great atmosphere, great selection. They even bought out the store next door to have 8 tables for various gaming. They even sponsor gaming nights and teach new players.
The only downsides? They were across the street from a college campus/dorm and two doors down from a popular bar.
On occasion when games lasted late into the night, and local partiers got started early, we crossed paths. Semi-drunk bullies still like bullying, even in adulthood. Especially funny when most of the guys in the club are well over 6ft tall and we had an assortment of football players, marines, and martial arts instructors.
One night a guy thought it hilarious to run up behind me and kick my case out of my hands. As the case went sliding down the pavement I thought more of an assault was coming so I threw a blind punch at the guy behind me. I caught him in the temple and knocked him out. I IMMEDIATELY ran for my car and got out of the area. The next week I learned he was okay, and that all of the witnesses there (game store and bar) "saw nothing". Only fight I have been in since I was 6.
Back in the day when I used to play magic the flgs owner used to get the big order of booster boxes open them up and take out the 5th and 6th packet down in the middle row and put others back in. The rares tended to be in one of those packets which would be sold as singles.
The bad bit tho was that he used to sell the boxes on as unopened to some of the regulars who usually spent £200+ a week in the shop.
I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Bronzefists42 wrote: I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Bronzefists42 wrote: I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Was there are reason for it? I will also admit i didnt expect that.
Bronzefists42 wrote: I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Was there are reason for it? I will also admit i didnt expect that.
I was so taken back by it I never asked about it. Keep in mind this is when I was around 11 or 12 and he was around that age as well (Maybe a year or two younger
Mine was someone had a glue bottle that had glued shut. My friend pulls out his Boy Scout folding knife and offers it. The guy with the glue bottle uses it and we continue to play for the next three hours without incident.
We show up a few days later to find he is banned from the store for threatening some guy with a knife. He would not tell us who put in the complaint. He also used the “Incident” to ban the regular D&D who had been playing there for almost 2 decades. Me and my friend had not played with them for almost 2 years at this point, but we were not part of the group.
When the GM confronted him he gave him some BS story. Talking with an employ later The Store owner was waiting for some excuse to get rid of the D&D group because they did not spend enough money and he wanted the table for the MechWarrior tournaments he was running.
Later he sold the store to some guys and left town. The new owners then found he had around 10k in bills due.
Anpu42 wrote: Mine was someone had a glue bottle that had glued shut. My friend pulls out his Boy Scout folding knife and offers it. The guy with the glue bottle uses it and we continue to play for the next three hours without incident.
We show up a few days later to find he is banned from the store for threatening some guy with a knife. He would not tell us who put in the complaint. He also used the “Incident” to ban the regular D&D who had been playing there for almost 2 decades. Me and my friend had not played with them for almost 2 years at this point, but we were not part of the group.
When the GM confronted him he gave him some BS story. Talking with an employ later The Store owner was waiting for some excuse to get rid of the D&D group because they did not spend enough money and he wanted the table for the MechWarrior tournaments he was running.
Later he sold the store to some guys and left town. The new owners then found he had around 10k in bills due.
Since you are in the US I find that odd. If he had 10k in bills due one of two things happened: 1. The buyers didn't do their homework, in which case it is their own fault, or 2. the previous owner didn't disclose all of his liabilities, in which case it is fraud. In the case of the latter, the new owners can either sue him for the undisclosed liabilities or force a reversal on the sale, plus any incurred costs.
Anpu42 wrote: Mine was someone had a glue bottle that had glued shut. My friend pulls out his Boy Scout folding knife and offers it. The guy with the glue bottle uses it and we continue to play for the next three hours without incident.
We show up a few days later to find he is banned from the store for threatening some guy with a knife. He would not tell us who put in the complaint. He also used the “Incident” to ban the regular D&D who had been playing there for almost 2 decades. Me and my friend had not played with them for almost 2 years at this point, but we were not part of the group.
When the GM confronted him he gave him some BS story. Talking with an employ later The Store owner was waiting for some excuse to get rid of the D&D group because they did not spend enough money and he wanted the table for the MechWarrior tournaments he was running.
Later he sold the store to some guys and left town. The new owners then found he had around 10k in bills due.
Since you are in the US I find that odd. If he had 10k in bills due one of two things happened: 1. The buyers didn't do their homework, in which case it is their own fault, or 2. the previous owner didn't disclose all of his liabilities, in which case it is fraud. In the case of the latter, the new owners can either sue him for the undisclosed liabilities or force a reversal on the sale, plus any incurred costs.
Maybe but it happens in NZ too, especially if they declare themselves bankrupt.
Anpu42 wrote: Mine was someone had a glue bottle that had glued shut. My friend pulls out his Boy Scout folding knife and offers it. The guy with the glue bottle uses it and we continue to play for the next three hours without incident.
We show up a few days later to find he is banned from the store for threatening some guy with a knife. He would not tell us who put in the complaint. He also used the “Incident” to ban the regular D&D who had been playing there for almost 2 decades. Me and my friend had not played with them for almost 2 years at this point, but we were not part of the group.
When the GM confronted him he gave him some BS story. Talking with an employ later The Store owner was waiting for some excuse to get rid of the D&D group because they did not spend enough money and he wanted the table for the MechWarrior tournaments he was running.
Later he sold the store to some guys and left town. The new owners then found he had around 10k in bills due.
Since you are in the US I find that odd. If he had 10k in bills due one of two things happened: 1. The buyers didn't do their homework, in which case it is their own fault, or 2. the previous owner didn't disclose all of his liabilities, in which case it is fraud. In the case of the latter, the new owners can either sue him for the undisclosed liabilities or force a reversal on the sale, plus any incurred costs.
Maybe but it happens in NZ too, especially if they declare themselves bankrupt.
I realy did not get much more than that infromation. The store had other issues and is gone now.
Bronzefists42 wrote: I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Is it bad that the first time I read that, I thought the manager had told the guys to "Clean up the restroom" not, "clean up IN the restroom" ?
Bronzefists42 wrote: I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Is it bad that the first time I read that, I thought the manager had told the guys to "Clean up the restroom" not, "clean up IN the restroom" ?
Bronzefists42 wrote: I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Is it bad that the first time I read that, I thought the manager had told the guys to "Clean up the restroom" not, "clean up IN the restroom" ?
Loser cleans up the shop.
It was one of the few games I had actually won with my 6th ed truck list but it was by far the worst game I have ever played. I think the memories of that event drove me to stop running the list.
Bronzefists42 wrote: I have a pretty shocking one. Back when I still played Orks and went to an official GW store I found another Ork player. He was an okay player but I ended up beating him. Then the manager comes over with a disturbed look on his face and tells my opponent to go clean up in the restroom next door. I go to over to his side of the table to find a puddle of urine. It was 2 years ago and I still feel bad for that guy.
Is it bad that the first time I read that, I thought the manager had told the guys to "Clean up the restroom" not, "clean up IN the restroom" ?
Loser cleans up the shop.
Bleeding hell! What caused him too let loose?
@gossipmeng - I used to hoover at my local GW when I was staying late. I was payed well in unused sprues
A kid came in to put together his metal models with our help (parent took note of the instructions that it was an expert kit and brought him in, fair play). Now, this kid was about 11 or 12, and was very hyper enthusiastic about everything.
I had the job to teach him how to put these things together (I can't remember what they were now). We'd got as far as cleaning up the models using files and clippers (wouldnt let him near a knife) when the phone rang and I had to go answer as my colleague had pop out on a Greggs sausage roll run. Turns out it was my area manager and wanted a good old natter about extending our gaming night hours. I was on the phone for about 5 minutes, when I hear a muffled yelp coming from the painting area.
Heading over there I find that the kid had decided to take the initative and start gluing the models together. Except somehow he'd managed to glue the side of his face to the painting table, and glue his other hand to the other side of his head. You have no idea how much I was torn between laughing and going "oh crap. there goes my job". It took about an hour of careful prising and superglue remover to get him unglued, by which point he thought it was the greatest experience of his life and couldnt wait to tell his friends.
Oh yeah, and the kid my old manager put in hospital with an asthma attack when he decided to empty and entire can of air freshener into the fan stating he was "purging the xenos filth".
Oh yeah, and the kid my old manager put in hospital with an asthma attack when he decided to empty and entire can of air freshener into the fan stating he was "purging the xenos filth".
Oh yeah, and the kid my old manager put in hospital with an asthma attack when he decided to empty and entire can of air freshener into the fan stating he was "purging the xenos filth".
This part cracked me up, lol.
A febreeze-grenade works much more efficiently, but I might have to do this next time the yu-gi-oh players invade...
Which is about the only 'bad xyz' anecdote I have, Once-a-month at the FLGS, a guy hosts a board games day, everyone brings board games, we fill as many games to capacity as we can and have a good laugh and coffee and other such nerdly pursuits. So we are there one weekend, and the yu-gi-oh players walk in. I am not joking, the floorspace of the gaming hall is fairly large (I'm crap at estimating distances, so all I can manage is the highly accurate figure of bigger than a tennis court ), we were sat in the opposite corner, and we could see faint tendrils of adolescent geek-reek slowly encroaching on us.
Seriously, the game boards were curling up at the edges...
If it was one stinky guy in a group, fair enough, but this seemed to be a whole tribe of unwashed teens.
Oh yeah, and the kid my old manager put in hospital with an asthma attack when he decided to empty and entire can of air freshener into the fan stating he was "purging the xenos filth".
This part cracked me up, lol.
A febreeze-grenade works much more efficiently, but I might have to do this next time the yu-gi-oh players invade...
Which is about the only 'bad xyz' anecdote I have, Once-a-month at the FLGS, a guy hosts a board games day, everyone brings board games, we fill as many games to capacity as we can and have a good laugh and coffee and other such nerdly pursuits. So we are there one weekend, and the yu-gi-oh players walk in. I am not joking, the floorspace of the gaming hall is fairly large (I'm crap at estimating distances, so all I can manage is the highly accurate figure of bigger than a tennis court ), we were sat in the opposite corner, and we could see faint tendrils of adolescent geek-reek slowly encroaching on us.
Seriously, the game boards were curling up at the edges...
If it was one stinky guy in a group, fair enough, but this seemed to be a whole tribe of unwashed teens.
Because of how yu-gi-oh is it attracts many people with mental illnesses e.g: autistics- me. And as many of these people are in capable of proper social interaction e.g: me standing in a GW for ten minutes trying to work up the courage to talk, they tend to care less about personal hygiene. And there for stink.
@gossipmeng - I used to hoover at my local GW when I was staying late. I was payed well in unused sprues
Hoover? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
Nah, a Hoover is kind of British slang for a vacuum cleaner
It's slang for a vacuum cleaner because it's the name of an American company which bought the patent for the first electric suction sweeper in 1908. But all of that isn't germain. What matters is that you apparently missed the intended attempt at humor.
That said I'll add my own horror stories:
The store I go to doesn't sell MtG or other "card games" and has no intention to do so. Which means the kiddies don't hang around... wait, that's a good thing.
Last month I put an email order in asking them to hold a Tau support cadre kit for me. I was supposed to pick it up on release day, but had to go out of town for 3 weeks. When I got back ... it was waiting for me even though it was a hot item at the store. hmm.. that's a good thing too.
Okay, this is one: Last summer, it was getting pretty hot in the gaming areas because the main A/C wasn't working right. So the owner bought a couple portable A/C units to keep things cooled off, which worked wonderfully... Crap, that was also a good thing.
You know, I really can't think of a reason to bash this store. It's run by friendly welcoming people, well lit with at least 8 well stocked gaming tables, well run tournaments, has a fairly large and solid friendly group of gamer guys ranging from 20 to 60+, and will actively help a new player fit into the environment by introducing them to the regulars. Also, I have yet to run into a WAAC type player. Competitive? Absolutely. Even a couple of known travelling tournament gamers. But even in that mode everyone is having fun. All in all, it's pretty much a perfect scene.
I had some very well painted OOPGK termies, and a FW contemptor holding the back edge of my table...
fatty mc fatterson who worked at GW went to the cabinet under the table, and his belly knocked off my models, chipping paint jobs, breaking off limbs, ect ect.
his response was "sorry, but you shouldnt put your models so close to the edge of the board, so its really your fault"
probably the closest I have ever come to punching someone over man dollies.
A febreeze-grenade works much more efficiently, but I might have to do this next time the yu-gi-oh players invade...
Which is about the only 'bad xyz' anecdote I have, Once-a-month at the FLGS, a guy hosts a board games day, everyone brings board games, we fill as many games to capacity as we can and have a good laugh and coffee and other such nerdly pursuits. So we are there one weekend, and the yu-gi-oh players walk in. I am not joking, the floorspace of the gaming hall is fairly large (I'm crap at estimating distances, so all I can manage is the highly accurate figure of bigger than a tennis court ), we were sat in the opposite corner, and we could see faint tendrils of adolescent geek-reek slowly encroaching on us.
Seriously, the game boards were curling up at the edges...
If it was one stinky guy in a group, fair enough, but this seemed to be a whole tribe of unwashed teens.
A few years ago I seriously didnt beleive all that "Nerdstench"-stuff you read online, I just wanted to believe that its a bad stereotype. But after experiencing a lot of it first hand, I changed my mind.
Dont get me wrong, theres stuff you cant do anything about, or just lesser things that I dont care about. One of the guys from my MTG group usually comes from work when joining us, he has late working hours and lives too far away to take a shower in between. But he usually just takes a fresh shirt with him and uses some deodorant before entering, and thats more than enough! I've seen guys where I was POSITIVE they havent had contact with water in more than a week, where they're followed by an almost visible cloud of "Ewww".
Theres a little Toyshop I visit from time to time, that sells MTG. People sometimes bring in their cards and the shop has a Box filled with them, where every card only costs a few cents. If you get lucky, there are some really good ones from time to time. A year or so ago I was there browsing some old cards (That samurai edition, no idea how it was called) when a guy entered. You could almost HEAR the screams of the damned, as he took a few steps into the shop. I manage maybe half a minute within smelling distance before I had to flee and left the Box to him. I would NOT have been surprised if the cards were covered in slime after he touched them.
Also, a recent one:
One of the bigger cardstores I go to got a new Employee recently. That guy has NO idea what personal space is. I was browsing some Starter Decks when I suddenly felt his breath on my neck. After I asked him to get some distance he just kept following me around the store, allways a few steps behind me. Really creeped me out. He repetated it when I was there again yesterday, i'm not sure if hes paranoid that I steal something or if hes waiting for me to ask him stuff. But if this contniues I might not buy there again.
Yeah I agree that some stinks are unavoidable, and while I don't profess to know the full situation with these kids, but from my observation they were all young enough that they would still be in school, probably still living with parents, and were dressed in clothing that indicated that they weren't exactly destitude, but they were old enough to understand personal hygeine and at least the basics of how to maintain it.
Underlying issues or no, if I was a parent, my kids would not leave the house smelling like that.
Yeah I agree that some stinks are unavoidable, and while I don't profess to know the full situation with these kids, but from my observation they were all young enough that they would still be in school, probably still living with parents, and were dressed in clothing that indicated that they weren't exactly destitude, but they were old enough to understand personal hygeine and at least the basics of how to maintain it.
Underlying issues or no, if I was a parent, my kids would not leave the house smelling like that.
Agreed, my Mom flat out tells me if I smell. It can happen in vacation or on a long weekend involving a lot of drinking, but I shower before I leave the house, and im pretty sure my parents would chase me with a garden hose if I didnt.
Besides, I usually wonder if people like that...dont notice how they smell. After a hard day of work I usually notice myself that a shower is in order, so it just amazes me that people supposedly ignore the issue.
I went to my only local game store when I was interested in Magic. It was a sealed tournament for Gatecrash I think. Anyway I encountered every bad tournament stereotype, at least two outright cheating and plenty of slow playing to push for draws. When any complaint about the behaviour was raised the owner outright admitted those who were long term customers or who had purchased the most would receive favourable treatment or the blind eye.
The store I occasionally frequent in Glasgow favours card gamers over any other type of purchase. So much so that with even if you have hundreds of pounds in your hands and want to buy it all, they'll serve the card gamers first, even if they just wandered up to the till in the middle of your transaction. A bit annoying.
Zond wrote: I went to my only local game store when I was interested in Magic. It was a sealed tournament for Gatecrash I think. Anyway I encountered every bad tournament stereotype, at least two outright cheating and plenty of slow playing to push for draws. When any complaint about the behaviour was raised the owner outright admitted those who were long term customers or who had purchased the most would receive favourable treatment or the blind eye.
The store I occasionally frequent in Glasgow favours card gamers over any other type of purchase. So much so that with even if you have hundreds of pounds in your hands and want to buy it all, they'll serve the card gamers first, even if they just wandered up to the till in the middle of your transaction. A bit annoying.
That's pretty weird, I mean money is money after all. Unless the store owners just have something personal against any non card game customers.
Yeah I agree that some stinks are unavoidable, and while I don't profess to know the full situation with these kids, but from my observation they were all young enough that they would still be in school, probably still living with parents, and were dressed in clothing that indicated that they weren't exactly destitude, but they were old enough to understand personal hygeine and at least the basics of how to maintain it.
Underlying issues or no, if I was a parent, my kids would not leave the house smelling like that.
Some stink IMO is fine. PEople sweat during the day. But damnit shower if you leave the house.
I went into another not too long ago, where, shortly after some MTG customers left, the owner complained very loudly that they spent 2 hours pouring over folders and folders of cards to spent a grand total of.... £1.60. (or so)
Yeah I agree that some stinks are unavoidable, and while I don't profess to know the full situation with these kids, but from my observation they were all young enough that they would still be in school, probably still living with parents, and were dressed in clothing that indicated that they weren't exactly destitude, but they were old enough to understand personal hygeine and at least the basics of how to maintain it.
Underlying issues or no, if I was a parent, my kids would not leave the house smelling like that.
Agreed, my Mom flat out tells me if I smell. It can happen in vacation or on a long weekend involving a lot of drinking, but I shower before I leave the house, and im pretty sure my parents would chase me with a garden hose if I didnt.
Besides, I usually wonder if people like that...dont notice how they smell. After a hard day of work I usually notice myself that a shower is in order, so it just amazes me that people supposedly ignore the issue.
So.. you're old enough to drink and you have a job.. but you live at home? wow. Words just fail me.
Yeah I agree that some stinks are unavoidable, and while I don't profess to know the full situation with these kids, but from my observation they were all young enough that they would still be in school, probably still living with parents, and were dressed in clothing that indicated that they weren't exactly destitude, but they were old enough to understand personal hygeine and at least the basics of how to maintain it.
Underlying issues or no, if I was a parent, my kids would not leave the house smelling like that.
Agreed, my Mom flat out tells me if I smell. It can happen in vacation or on a long weekend involving a lot of drinking, but I shower before I leave the house, and im pretty sure my parents would chase me with a garden hose if I didnt.
Besides, I usually wonder if people like that...dont notice how they smell. After a hard day of work I usually notice myself that a shower is in order, so it just amazes me that people supposedly ignore the issue.
So.. you're old enough to drink and you have a job.. but you live at home? wow. Words just fail me.
Im 21 and still in my apprenticeship. Most people over here can only afford to move out once they got an actual job. Currently, I could only afford to pay rent and then i'd have to hunt rats for nourishment. But good to know that you judge with barely any background information.
Compel wrote: I'm sort of curious about which store in Glasgow.
I went into another not too long ago, where, shortly after some MTG customers left, the owner complained very loudly that they spent 2 hours pouring over folders and folders of cards to spent a grand total of.... £1.60. (or so)
I don't think you could have found an example that was more stereotypically Scottish there...
Compel wrote: I went into another not too long ago, where, shortly after some MTG customers left, the owner complained very loudly that they spent 2 hours pouring over folders and folders of cards to spent a grand total of.... £1.60. (or so)
To be fair, it's common for me if I'm looking for a specific card to look through a stores binders/boxes for an hour or so and, not finding it, walk out without purchasing anything.
I went to 4 stores in the Houston area in one day looking for a specific card and at one of them spent $1.08 on 4 Vizzedrixes because I saw them and laughed.
The only reason I had to look through all the binders was because there was no inventory that the person behind the counter could consult.
I don't presume to say much about the game, however, it does seem to be a little rude to do so, when you're taking up half the counterspace, making it difficult for actual customers to be served in a store that's not much bigger than my living room.
So.. you're old enough to drink and you have a job.. but you live at home? wow. Words just fail me.
Depending on where you live, living with your parents in the UK is inevitable.
For example, if you live in London, a studio flat will usually set you back £700 a month absolute minimum. You can tack on probably another £75 in water, electricity, gas, and internet bills on top of that. Add in at least £150 for food. And then you have the pleasure of your local council tax. Then your travel bills if you don't work locally.
Considering that after tax, a full time minimum wage worker takes home about £950 a month , staying at home is often not a choice. It's either that, or live in a six bedroom dive where the roof leaks and eat cheap rubbish for food.
Compel wrote: I don't presume to say much about the game, however, it does seem to be a little rude to do so, when you're taking up half the counterspace, making it difficult for actual customers to be served in a store that's not much bigger than my living room.
(It was Static Games I was in, by the way)
So it's my problem that's how the store's inventory is presented (and I'm told to look through it on the counter, not take it to the tables)?
Seems like the store doesn't actually want to sell anything from those binders/boxes then.
Believe me - I'd rather they had an actual inventory (my local shop is mostly accurate). I'd rather they let me take the binder to a table. It's not my choice. And that automatically means I'm rude for shopping there or that I'm obligated to buy something I don't want?
Heh, weird. Admittedly I've only ever been there about 4 times, however, all the folk there seem to do is complain about the MTG customers. :p
But then, hey, when you're dealing with very small, independent stores like Static with only 1 or 2 people who actually work there, including the owner, it's never going to be a surprise that its not run by Alan Sugar. (Or Donald Trump, for those overseas.)
I've got no complaint about the MTG customers, just the bizarre practice of serving them first regardless. They're no doubt the bread and butter of the store, but it still rankles.
Yeah I agree that some stinks are unavoidable, and while I don't profess to know the full situation with these kids, but from my observation they were all young enough that they would still be in school, probably still living with parents, and were dressed in clothing that indicated that they weren't exactly destitude, but they were old enough to understand personal hygeine and at least the basics of how to maintain it.
Underlying issues or no, if I was a parent, my kids would not leave the house smelling like that.
Agreed, my Mom flat out tells me if I smell. It can happen in vacation or on a long weekend involving a lot of drinking, but I shower before I leave the house, and im pretty sure my parents would chase me with a garden hose if I didnt.
Besides, I usually wonder if people like that...dont notice how they smell. After a hard day of work I usually notice myself that a shower is in order, so it just amazes me that people supposedly ignore the issue.
So.. you're old enough to drink and you have a job.. but you live at home? wow. Words just fail me.
Im 21 and still in my apprenticeship. Most people over here can only afford to move out once they got an actual job. Currently, I could only afford to pay rent and then i'd have to hunt rats for nourishment. But good to know that you judge with barely any background information.
I apologize for him. He may speak for a 40% of the population, but it's a 40% we try to ignore when we're having a polite discussion.
There's an unfortunate preconception among conservatives in America that being poor means you are lazy. Not unlucky, not young, not crippled, just plain lazy. We hope that someday they will educate themselves as to the REAL state of the average poor person... but it hasn't happened yet.
On subject... There was one time I was playing a blood bowl game at a store that had it's gaming area in the basement, and the sales floor on the main floor. We finished the game and went upstairs... only to find the store had closed and the clerk had forgotten to come down and 'kick us out.'
Fortunately the owner's phone numbers were easily found and we called them to let us out. They were so sorry... and I'm pretty sure the clerk found himself hunting for a new job afterwards because I never saw him there again.
clively wrote: So.. you're old enough to drink and you have a job.. but you live at home? wow. Words just fail me.
So... You post for no other reason but to be rude to another person? Wow. Words just fail me.
Well, enough feeding the troll. This wasn't in-store, but on the local GW Facebook page. Right after the Death From The Skies or whatever it's called was announced, a customer asked for some information. The thread was deleted in the end so I can't give exact quotes, but the gist of it was that he asked whether or not this book was just a WD compilation, or had new contents as well. The store replied (incredibly unhelpfully) by copy-pasting the info from the GW site.
The customer said that did not answer his question and the whole thing turned into a 10-15 comment long thread of the customer and the employee arguing, where the employee argued that the customer had unrealistic demands on the staff for expecting them to know everything about new releases, and where the customer argued that a simple "We do not currently have that information" would have sufficed.
The page admin first made an attempt to clean up the thread by deleting some of the comments, but in the end the whole thread was deleted altogether.
It was cringe worthy, to say the very least. They often post stupid things on their page, but this particular one stays with me for some reason.
Yeah I agree that some stinks are unavoidable, and while I don't profess to know the full situation with these kids, but from my observation they were all young enough that they would still be in school, probably still living with parents, and were dressed in clothing that indicated that they weren't exactly destitude, but they were old enough to understand personal hygeine and at least the basics of how to maintain it.
Underlying issues or no, if I was a parent, my kids would not leave the house smelling like that.
Agreed, my Mom flat out tells me if I smell. It can happen in vacation or on a long weekend involving a lot of drinking, but I shower before I leave the house, and im pretty sure my parents would chase me with a garden hose if I didnt.
Besides, I usually wonder if people like that...dont notice how they smell. After a hard day of work I usually notice myself that a shower is in order, so it just amazes me that people supposedly ignore the issue.
So.. you're old enough to drink and you have a job.. but you live at home? wow. Words just fail me.
Im 21 and still in my apprenticeship. Most people over here can only afford to move out once they got an actual job. Currently, I could only afford to pay rent and then i'd have to hunt rats for nourishment. But good to know that you judge with barely any background information.
I apologize for him. He may speak for a 40% of the population, but it's a 40% we try to ignore when we're having a polite discussion.
There's an unfortunate preconception among conservatives in America that being poor means you are lazy. Not unlucky, not young, not crippled, just plain lazy. We hope that someday they will educate themselves as to the REAL state of the average poor person... but it hasn't happened yet.
On subject... There was one time I was playing a blood bowl game at a store that had it's gaming area in the basement, and the sales floor on the main floor. We finished the game and went upstairs... only to find the store had closed and the clerk had forgotten to come down and 'kick us out.'
Fortunately the owner's phone numbers were easily found and we called them to let us out. They were so sorry... and I'm pretty sure the clerk found himself hunting for a new job afterwards because I never saw him there again.
We have them over here. Their called Tories, and some stupid buggers voted them into power. So most people my age will not be moving out for a long time.
clively wrote: So.. you're old enough to drink and you have a job.. but you live at home? wow. Words just fail me.
College costs are climbing in the US and a lot of recent graduates are ending up back at home as their student loans are crippling. There's a lot of degrees that don't support a livable wage and compound that with the debt burden or lack of jobs and there's a lot of people who can only make due by moving back in with family.
I know a bunch of people in their 30's who have been forced to move back in with their parents due to losing a job and in most cases losing their home due to being underwater with their mortgage. One of my friends did a stint back at home with his parent for a year so they could pay for their wedding and put money down on a house. There's plenty of hard working people that have very practical reasons for ending up living with parents. It's hardly a rarity nowdays.
On subject... There was one time I was playing a blood bowl game at a store that had it's gaming area in the basement, and the sales floor on the main floor. We finished the game and went upstairs... only to find the store had closed and the clerk had forgotten to come down and 'kick us out.'
Fortunately the owner's phone numbers were easily found and we called them to let us out. They were so sorry... and I'm pretty sure the clerk found himself hunting for a new job afterwards because I never saw him there again
*snipping the politics*
That sounds pretty awesome, a lock-in at a game store
So long as some food and beverages are available, I would have stayed the night, playing games until the wee small hours, having deep philosophical conversation to pass the time, painting the first person that falls asleep to at least a tournament-standard 3 colour minimum
And when the owner turns up in the morning and finds, to his suprise, the impromptu squatters in his basement, I would boldly exclaim:
'Well I hope you brought breakfast!'
for the non-UK folks, for whom I am unsure if their respective cultures have a similar custom, a 'lock-in' is when a publican chooses to follow the legal procedure of closing up &locking the doors of a bar/pub/tavern after the time at which his or her license prevents him from selling alcoholic beverages or remaining open for business, without first removing the current patrons, then continuing to serve alcohol, although not exactly 'above board', long into the night and well past the aforementioned closing time.
customer had unrealistic demands on the staff for expecting them to know everything about new releases
Is that not your job as a redshirt? Oh wait GW doesn't give a skaven's buttox about their customers silly me
Automatically Appended Next Post: Nothing wrong with living at home, there are simply too many people living on this world and with all the money I save I might be able to afford GW product.
It's not GW related (well, maybe one is) but I had a game store owned by a highschool friend's father many many years ago. I used to go there almost every day just to "hang out" and played Fantasy, 40k and the like there.
The GW-related story is a tournament that the store ran for WHFB (I think it was 5th or 6th edition), I want to say 1,000 points, with first prize being like $50 in store credit and second prize being like $20 or something. Anyways, the owner's son (who also worked there and dropped out of highschool despite being super smart because he felt it was a "waste of time" and this with him only having class for half the day due to work program) entered the tournament with a Brettonian army that consisted of a lord on a dragon (they could take 75% of the total points in characters at this time) and a unit of archers or something that hid in a forest. He proceeded to steamroll everybody in the tournament as nobody had the means to deal with a lord who was around 800+ points on his own (this was the days of "Herohammer"). Basically all the other players in the tournament dropped out because nobody could defeat him, but as I didn't care about winning I stuck around with a Vampire Counts army and ended up facing him in the final round; I nearly did kill his lord (using the magic power that dealt a ton of wounds without save, I forget its name) but in the end he killed my lord and the army was dissolved. So the end result was that he won store credit at his own store. I did come in second by default though.
Another story from this store involves the game Hackmaster which at the time was a comical parody of 1st edition AD&D (as featured in the comic strip Knights of the Dinner Table). The store was having several campaigns going on so I picked up the books to join in. What I found was that the son's character was higher level than everybody else due to people dying (Hackmaster always made a new character start at 1st level) and was basically treating everybody else in the group as his slaves. They would invite people to the group and, as part of the campaign, you got a free magic item of small value. They would then proceed to get the person killed and take the magic item. He even played a trick on a rather short-fused player by making him think a sword was a cursed sword that killed its wielder, and actually got him to storm out of the store threatening everybody.
Here comes the fun part: At the time the company that made Hackmaster had a special "club" for retailers that made them official. I posted on their forums basically asking for character advice as I had two characters die already and was treated like a slave by the owner's son's PC. I mentioned the store and someone who had been run off from the store chimed in to say all the stuff they were doing. The company then got involved and kicked the store out of the retailer association for undisclosed reasons. Then, a horde of people from the store came to the thread (including the guy who stormed out due to being tricked) and made death threats against me, my family, the other guy, etc. for getting the store removed. I was summarily banned from the store (I once was looking at joining a 40k club that went there and asked them to just casually ask about me, the response I got from them later was and I quote "Club or not, you are not welcome at the store. In fact, I wouldn't even stand across the street while we're playing"). The store closed down years ago though (and the one started from its ashes with the regulars closed as well), but to this day I remember how much of a storm it caused when all I wanted to do was get advice for making a PC that would fit in to the group!
Death threats? I would have passed those messages on to the local Police. One guy making angry threats over the internet is one thing, but an entire group of people who know you and would recognise you in person making threats of violence?
Shadow Captain Edithae wrote: Death threats? I would have passed those messages on to the local Police. One guy making angry threats over the internet is one thing, but an entire group of people who know you and would recognise you in person making threats of violence?
Definitely a criminal matter.
I don't quite remember if it was just the one guy or the others (I know they were insulting me though). I was young at the time though, like 17 and a senior in highschool so it didn't cross my mind at the time.
Here comes the fun part: At the time the company that made Hackmaster had a special "club" for retailers that made them official. I posted on their forums basically asking for character advice as I had two characters die already and was treated like a slave by the owner's son's PC. I mentioned the store and someone who had been run off from the store chimed in to say all the stuff they were doing. The company then got involved and kicked the store out of the retailer association for undisclosed reasons. Then, a horde of people from the store came to the thread (including the guy who stormed out due to being tricked) and made death threats against me, my family, the other guy, etc. for getting the store removed. I was summarily banned from the store (I once was looking at joining a 40k club that went there and asked them to just casually ask about me, the response I got from them later was and I quote "Club or not, you are not welcome at the store. In fact, I wouldn't even stand across the street while we're playing"). The store closed down years ago though (and the one started from its ashes with the regulars closed as well), but to this day I remember how much of a storm it caused when all I wanted to do was get advice for making a PC that would fit in to the group!
Before I played 40k, I posted a LOT on the KenzerCo forums. While I don't recall this story, this does sound like something that would happen. LOL!
Here comes the fun part: At the time the company that made Hackmaster had a special "club" for retailers that made them official. I posted on their forums basically asking for character advice as I had two characters die already and was treated like a slave by the owner's son's PC. I mentioned the store and someone who had been run off from the store chimed in to say all the stuff they were doing. The company then got involved and kicked the store out of the retailer association for undisclosed reasons. Then, a horde of people from the store came to the thread (including the guy who stormed out due to being tricked) and made death threats against me, my family, the other guy, etc. for getting the store removed. I was summarily banned from the store (I once was looking at joining a 40k club that went there and asked them to just casually ask about me, the response I got from them later was and I quote "Club or not, you are not welcome at the store. In fact, I wouldn't even stand across the street while we're playing"). The store closed down years ago though (and the one started from its ashes with the regulars closed as well), but to this day I remember how much of a storm it caused when all I wanted to do was get advice for making a PC that would fit in to the group!
Before I played 40k, I posted a LOT on the KenzerCo forums. While I don't recall this story, this does sound like something that would happen. LOL!
Once the threats and insults started the thread was deleted, so it didn't last very long (maybe a day or two) and no trace of it remains. The store was called Ground Zero Games though.
I remember hackmaster. was the first and only dnd style game I played. Couldn't keep any of my characters alive though. Mainly do to idiotic companions I think. Gave up after that.
wowsmash wrote: I remember hackmaster. was the first and only dnd style game I played. Couldn't keep any of my characters alive though. Mainly do to idiotic companions I think. Gave up after that.
My group was big time into the HMPA and HMGMA. We hosted a lot of learn to play events and hosted tournaments. Our last OwlCon tournament was the largest HackMaster event outside of GenCon (run by Jolly Blackburn and David Kenzer).
After about 7 years though, we got burnt out and switched to Pathfinder, which we like better.
I always wanted to get into that style of rpg but I can't seem to find a group of reasonable people. The ones I run across give me a bad vibe or they go over the top and want to go to the park and act it all out with simi-real weapons and costumes. I just want to gather around a table at somebody's place with some burgers and stuff and just have a fun game. O and have companions who actually do stuff rather than stare at each other for 15 min cuase nobody wants to be the one to touch a door.
wowsmash wrote: I just want to gather around a table at somebody's place with some burgers and stuff and just have a fun game. O and have companions who actually do stuff rather than stare at each other for 15 min cuase nobody wants to be the one to touch a door.
The few characters I did make died in some fun ways though. First one was killed by his own party. Second one drowned while fighting a dragon do to one of my companions deciding he would rather be in the boat with me rather than swimming to the dragon and fighting with the other close combat oriented characters which he was one. Since he tried to get it knocks me overboard mid spell. This happened like 4 times during the fight. And my last one was shocked to death by a door 10min in to the adventure. Nobody wanted to touch the door so after 15 min im like fine I'll touch it (healer). GM rolls to hit and crits a bunch. In short I died like 5 times over from the door.
Hackmaster started as a loving parody of 'old school' D&D, and some versions (I believe it was essentially a licensed reprint of an old edition + a bunch of extra material for a version or two) were really meant as a joke that happened to be playable. It's definitely a throw-back to the style of gaming that tended to be somewhat adversarial (mainly player vs. GM, but occasionally player vs. player) and was full of nasty stuff that doesn't fly in many modern RPGs.
I mean, 2nd Edition AD&D (which had already 'softened' a lot form 1st edition) you could still end up playing a Fighter with 2-3 HP at first level, so one hit would kill you. Until 3rd, 1st level D&D characters tended to be meat for the grinder, and whomever made it through could feel entitled.
Still, the easiest and often best response to a not-fun game is to not play it.
Now, here's something interesting that not a lot of the store's customers apparently know (or knew, whichever). They sold porn there. Live action and Hentai. This store is so...odd. There are a couple areas that like nobody actually goes to, not because they're roped off or anything but because they're just off to the far end of the store, which itself is the size of a supermarket. You'd find some weird stuff, like porn on display and hentai comics opened up to the pages with the tentacle rape scenes, all the fun stuff. And, children being poorly supervised and naturally inclined to explore, would sometimes wind up in the sections where porn was housed. I'll let you soak that in for a minute. The porn section of the store was such an oddity. Combine this with the awkwardness of the average geek (this was before geek became chic) and the (completely surprising) number of very attractive girls who worked the register, and you occasionally had the hilarious spectacle of a stuttering ultranerd buying porn from a really cute girl, and all the awkward antics that go with it.
Thats actually hilarious. I think i'll go there. I must go there...
My local store had a manager about 5-6years back and he was so obsessed with making money we couldn't go in and have painting days even if we bought paint. We couldn't just go in for games even if we bought models or books. He used to whinge at us if we had a couple unpainted models on the table even though the rules of the game area stated (for those who remember bare metal weekend) bare models were permitted.
When i asked him what gives he said "you come to a store to buy stuff play games elsewhere".
The new manager will go out of his way to help you save moneywwhen building an army. He'll go out of his way to help new comers and veterans alike. I once bought 3 boxed sets and ran out of special weapons. On his lunch break he went home and came back with about 50 special weapons and asked what i wanted out of the pile. All he asked for in return was a few purity seals i didn't want.
Some stores turn good but there are some real a***holes out there
The new manager will go out of his way to help you save moneywwhen building an army. He'll go out of his way to help new comers and veterans alike. I once bought 3 boxed sets and ran out of special weapons. On his lunch break he went home and came back with about 50 special weapons and asked what i wanted out of the pile. All he asked for in return was a few purity seals i didn't want.
Honestly man, if I had a store manager/owner like that, I could probably still be playing 40k... Even as he's doing what he can to help his customers out by saving money, his ideas would inevitably lead me to have more ideas, which mean more modeling/painting/gaming, which means that money goes to him
I know what you mean. I just see it that i prefer to have a mate behind the counter instead of a sales rep. If i line his pockets its all good because he not only helps but gives me an opponent as me and him have had numerous battles against each other.
He's that good at his job him and i were the only ones in the store he looks at me and says "i want a break from painting i want to play LOTR". Now about 6-7 years ago i painted a batch of wood elves for the store for LOTR.... Their still there. So i say to him "damn i didn't bring any i only got 40k here" so he insists "we have elves, goblins, uruk hai and rangers painted for the demo games. Pick one we'll make 350point armies and have a game on the demo table for fantasy".... So we played, even through his lunch break he went got food and came back while he ate we gamed.
If more managers were like that i think we may have more hobbyists.
Another story. Up north from me is another store. This guys is the biggest c*** you will meet. He kicked a kid out of the store for "arguing" because he used space marines as red corsairs.... ORIGINALLY RED CORSAIRS WERE JUST SPACE MARINES WITH RED "X's" THROUGH THEIR ICONGRAPHY. When in this store i was refused service because i looked at ravagers and talos and ended up at the counter with a haemonculus because i decided to get some other stuff on the way home... Just because i considered a more expensive product he actually refused to serve me because i took a cheaper option.
This guy was sacked after (don't know if there rumours or truth) he received "numerous" complaints, apparently the most they've had about an Australian employee
3rdGen wrote: I know what you mean. I just see it that i prefer to have a mate behind the counter instead of a sales rep. If i line his pockets its all good because he not only helps but gives me an opponent as me and him have had numerous battles against each other.
He's that good at his job him and i were the only ones in the store he looks at me and says "i want a break from painting i want to play LOTR". Now about 6-7 years ago i painted a batch of wood elves for the store for LOTR.... Their still there. So i say to him "damn i didn't bring any i only got 40k here" so he insists "we have elves, goblins, uruk hai and rangers painted for the demo games. Pick one we'll make 350point armies and have a game on the demo table for fantasy".... So we played, even through his lunch break he went got food and came back while he ate we gamed.
If more managers were like that i think we may have more hobbyists.
Another story. Up north from me is another store. This guys is the biggest c*** you will meet. He kicked a kid out of the store for "arguing" because he used space marines as red corsairs.... ORIGINALLY RED CORSAIRS WERE JUST SPACE MARINES WITH RED "X's" THROUGH THEIR ICONGRAPHY. When in this store i was refused service because i looked at ravagers and talos and ended up at the counter with a haemonculus because i decided to get some other stuff on the way home... Just because i considered a more expensive product he actually refused to serve me because i took a cheaper option.
This guy was sacked after (don't know if there rumours or truth) he received "numerous" complaints, apparently the most they've had about an Australian employee
Agreed on your first point.
But damn, that 2nd guy sounds like a complete fethball.
Shortly after I moved to the town I am living now, I found an Store with an Tabletop/RPG club attached to it. While I had many nice evenings, days or even weekends there. After the club virtually died off I started to go to another club next town led by friend of mine. One day they organized an Convention to promote Tabletopgaming in our area. One of the storeowners of the previous club agreed to come to the con to sell some stuff. He would get an own stand an everything.
Half an hour before the con started he informed the organiser that he wouldn't come but would send someone to replace him. The bloke came.... two hours to late. And brought alot of material with him, including a lot of used miniatures. So I was walking around the con during a break from demonstrating 40k and checked out what he was selling. I noticed that one of the younger club members bought an Dreadnought painted in an Ultramarine scheme that looked strangely familiar.
Guess what. In the clubrooms there was still a closet with miniatures people stored there. The respective Owners would have picked them up in a few days. But the Storeowner told his replacment that he should take the miniatures from that room, probably thinking that the minis where left for good (when he was thinking after all) I imformed the guy about that but he refused to giv the money back. Even after I informed him that the Dreadnought still belonged to someone. His Answer? The owner of the Dread should talk with the buyer if he want it back. He wouldn't even listen to the organiser/clubleader.
This incident poisoned the relationship between the two clubs for the next 8 months.
Oh he was. I was talking to a mate yesterday. He said they went into that store and his little brother was looking at chaos bikers even though he was a marine player. When he asked "hey mate what army are you playing?" and his brother replied "space marines" he proceeded to hit him on the head with a tank brush while saying " these are chaos marines, space marines are over there" *points across the store*
His older brother being the hot head he is quickly intervened and snapped the tank brush and they walked out
3rdGen wrote: Oh he was. I was talking to a mate yesterday. He said they went into that store and his little brother was looking at chaos bikers even though he was a marine player. When he asked "hey mate what army are you playing?" and his brother replied "space marines" he proceeded to hit him on the head with a tank brush while saying " these are chaos marines, space marines are over there" *points across the store*
His older brother being the hot head he is quickly intervened and snapped the tank brush and they walked out
Isnt that classed as assault? Hitting him with a brush?
I know that if I had been in the older brothers position I would have inserted that brush into the owner via orifices not previously there.
Isnt that classed as assault? Hitting him with a brush?
I know that if I had been in the older brothers position I would have inserted that brush into the owner via orifices not previously there.
In all technicalities yes, but try finding a court that'll entertain it
Depends, he threw objects at the younger brother. How old was the younger brother? If he was 16, nah, they won't care. 8 or 10? I think they'd have done something about it. Either way, that store owner should have been castrated.
Another story. Up north from me is another store. This guys is the biggest c*** you will meet. He kicked a kid out of the store for "arguing" because he used space marines as red corsairs.... ORIGINALLY RED CORSAIRS WERE JUST SPACE MARINES WITH RED "X's" THROUGH THEIR ICONGRAPHY. When in this store i was refused service because i looked at ravagers and talos and ended up at the counter with a haemonculus because i decided to get some other stuff on the way home... Just because i considered a more expensive product he actually refused to serve me because i took a cheaper option.
This guy was sacked after (don't know if there rumours or truth) he received "numerous" complaints, apparently the most they've had about an Australian employee
Oh! I would have a field day with that moron, what is your name can i speak to your manager, make me leave the store, Sure call the cops, explain them why you not serve me etcetera!
master of ordinance wrote: Isnt that classed as assault? Hitting him with a brush?
I know that if I had been in the older brothers position I would have inserted that brush into the owner via orifices not previously there.
I doubt the cops would put a light whack with a paintbrush as a high priority after your attempted murder.
master of ordinance wrote: Isnt that classed as assault? Hitting him with a brush?
I know that if I had been in the older brothers position I would have inserted that brush into the owner via orifices not previously there.
I doubt the cops would put a light whack with a paintbrush as a high priority after your attempted murder.
Eh, true.
I guess im just applying the UK's laws to other countries now
On subject... There was one time I was playing a blood bowl game at a store that had it's gaming area in the basement, and the sales floor on the main floor. We finished the game and went upstairs... only to find the store had closed and the clerk had forgotten to come down and 'kick us out.'
Fortunately the owner's phone numbers were easily found and we called them to let us out. They were so sorry... and I'm pretty sure the clerk found himself hunting for a new job afterwards because I never saw him there again
*snipping the politics*
That sounds pretty awesome, a lock-in at a game store
So long as some food and beverages are available, I would have stayed the night, playing games until the wee small hours, having deep philosophical conversation to pass the time, painting the first person that falls asleep to at least a tournament-standard 3 colour minimum
And when the owner turns up in the morning and finds, to his suprise, the impromptu squatters in his basement, I would boldly exclaim:
'Well I hope you brought breakfast!'
for the non-UK folks, for whom I am unsure if their respective cultures have a similar custom, a 'lock-in' is when a publican chooses to follow the legal procedure of closing up &locking the doors of a bar/pub/tavern after the time at which his or her license prevents him from selling alcoholic beverages or remaining open for business, without first removing the current patrons, then continuing to serve alcohol, although not exactly 'above board', long into the night and well past the aforementioned closing time.
Leigen knows how to make lemons into lemonade, and then throw lemonade at the owner if the owner didn't bring breakfast.
wowsmash wrote: I remember hackmaster. was the first and only dnd style game I played. Couldn't keep any of my characters alive though. Mainly do to idiotic companions I think. Gave up after that.
My group was big time into the HMPA and HMGMA. We hosted a lot of learn to play events and hosted tournaments. Our last OwlCon tournament was the largest HackMaster event outside of GenCon (run by Jolly Blackburn and David Kenzer).
After about 7 years though, we got burnt out and switched to Pathfinder, which we like better.
I remember Owlcon. Ran some Epic tourneys there. They still send me emails.
I visited a FLGS in a near by mall. I went in to see that they were clearing out GW product because of lack of support. I decided to strike up conversation with the owner just asking why they were clearing out the GW products. He told me that people didn't like to come to a "Mall Store" because it was in the mall. He was very snappy and rude when he replied. I looked around the store and saw no play space or tables for miniatures games. I then asked him if he had any play space or a backroom. He got even more animated and rude and pointed to a large pile of boxes and displays that were just thrown into an open space. "I have plenty of play space! It's just no one wants to come to a mall store..." He was once again snappy and rude and was even talking down to me this time. I finished my transaction with a forced smile and left. I almost felt like saying to him maybe it's not the fact that you'r store is in a mall maybe it's the level of service to provide? I'm supporting your business and your being rude to me? I never went back to the store. I visited the mall a month later and his store was gone.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Doctadeth wrote: We had the MTG guys come in unannounced for a tournament, the day we had booked out the MTG area for a 40K tournament, booked over 2 months in advance.
because MTG "magically" gets more sales (despite 3/4 of them getting their cards off the net) the TO got shafted, no refund on the bond he had to pay (350 bucks) and we ended up having no tournament that quarter, meaning the TO was out another 400 bucks for the prize money.
We now run our tournament days at the Italian club, which means we get food, drink AND a bathroom and the LGS doesn't get our business.
This happens all the time at most FLGS around here.
wowsmash wrote: Last time I was in the store we had about 8 guys around the table watching a 2v2 match all the model's and terrain were painted to a high degree. The 4 by 6 table was supported by a 2 by 6 table. One of the guys trips over a chair and starts to go down and reaches for the table. The table starts to come up and 8 pairs of hands slam down on the table to keep it in place. All of us are holding the table in place while we watch him eat it. I was across the table so there wasn't much I could do but I still felt like a douche for saving the table and not him. Felt like slow motion as he was going down. He had the weirdest look on his face to.
).
